Begin Again
by MyRedRoseRomance
Summary: College is full of new beginnings - new classes, new friends, new adventures. Helga's freshman year has been no different. But when a piece of her past comes into the picture, she's unsure whether she should begin again or pick things up where they left off. *WARNING: Contains lemons and coarse language.* You've been warned!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! This my first attempt at fanfiction so please feel free to comment and leave suggestions.**

**Just a little background: While Hey Arnold! The Movie did occur, TJM did not. Also, italicized sentences are Helga's inner thoughts (in case you needed clarification). Since this story takes place during college, there will be adult language and themes. So consider yourself warned. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold, Pinky and the Brain, any of the bands that are mentioned, or any music/TV/movies that I have unknowingly referenced. Just want to make sure I cover all the bases. :)**

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**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!**

I groaned, groggily turning my head towards the alarm clock on other side of my bed. I stared bleary eyed at it, trying to focus on the little red dashes long enough to clearly make out the time. "Ugh. 8:30 already?" I buried my face back into my pillow.

"Shut that thing off, will ya? Some of us don't have class until 11."

"Sorry Sam." I said, sitting up and swinging my legs out of bed. I shut the alarm off and slowly dragged my way over to the other side of the room to my laptop.

"It's alright. I needed to get up and study anyway," she yawned. I plunked down in my desk chair and looked up at the top bunk of the bed frame. Sam looked and probably felt just as half asleep as I was, her eyes bloodshot and her short brown hair sticking straight up in the back.

"That's a great look for you." I laughed as she slowly lowered herself down the ladder to the floor. "Shut up, Pataki." I smiled as she made her way to the mirror hanging on her closet door. "Besides, look who's talking." She smirked.

I joined her at the mirror and laughed again. My long blonde hair looked like I had tried to tease the back of it into the biggest bouffant imaginable. "Well, at least we're the only two that have to see each other like this. Or would you prefer I took a picture for Rodney to keep by his bedside?"

She giggled. "You're such a douche." She said, lightly punching my arm.

"Right back at ya." I said, returning the favor with smile and a jab of my own.

It was hard to believe that only six months earlier I had loathed the idea of having to share a room with her. When I had gotten my rooming assignment during the final week of July, I had been silently praying that I would be one of the few lucky freshmen to get a single to myself. When I opened the letter and read that I would be spending my first year of real freedom crammed into a tiny 12'x19' with a complete stranger from a podunk farm town in Ohio, I was fuming. The first thing I pictured was a girl just like Lila, "ever so" sickeningly sweet and naïve and dumber than a box of rocks. But there was nothing I could do about it now. The university wasn't about to just grant me my own room simply because I was making assumptions about my new roommate. So, I told myself to suck it up for the moment and as soon as classes started, desperately try to find someone to switch with ASAP.

About a week later, I came home to find an email from her in my inbox. It was simple enough. She introduced herself as Samantha 'Sam' Reynolds, exclaimed how excited she was to get to know her "super awesome new roomie", and asking what I planned on bringing. She mentioned that she already had a mini-fridge and a microwave so she was hoping I'd bring the TV. _Great… Just what I thought. Well, at least I can call dibs on the remote since it's __MY__ TV._ I waited another week before I bothered to email her back. It literally had only 10 words in it: "I'm Helga Pataki. Glad you're excited. I'll bring the TV." I'm pretty sure she had gotten the picture that I wasn't interested in being 'roomies' as we kept our conversations to a minimum after that.

I had gotten there early on move-in day, not only to avoid the crowds but to make sure I staked claim on the best stuff in the room. Hey, if I was going to have to put up with Lila version 2.0, I was at least going to be comfortable. I was bringing the final box of my stuff up the stairs to my new dorm when I saw someone standing in the open doorway. She was short, barely 5 foot 2, petite, with chocolate brown hair cut into a sleek shoulder-length bob and even darker eyes rimmed in black liquid eyeliner. She was dressed in a black tank top, light blue jeans, and a pair of black flip-flops. She was bending down to place a box on the floor when I saw a quick flash of a studded belt and a rose tattoo. _This can't be her._ She turned around to face me. "Oh hey! You must be Helga. Nice to finally meet you. I'm Sam." We shook hands. "I see you've already staked claim on the bottom bunk. That's cool but I call dibs on the closet that isn't behind the door." _Really?_ _She's not even close to what I pictured._

"Hey, babe, where do you want me to put this stuff?" I watched as a lanky brunette boy with a buzzcut walked in cradling a large box.

"Helga, I'd like you to meet my bitch, Rodney."

He rolled his eyes. "Sam, do you really have to say that?"

"Yes I do. Now be a good boy and introduce yourself to the nice lady."

He nodded and shook my hand. "Hiya." He turned back to Sam. "Seriously, how many more trips do we have to make, babe?"

"As many as it takes to clean out the car." She chuckled as Rodney turned and headed out the door. "Dance, puppet, dance!"

I smiled. _Maybe this year won't be so bad after all._ I set my own junk down and called out as she began to head back out the door.

"Do you guys need any help?"

She smiled. "That'd be awesome. Thanks!"

We didn't say much else as we trekked up and down the stairs, unloading boxes from her Honda Civic. An hour later, I had managed to grab the final box from the front seat. I looked at the contents and found it filled to the brim with CDs. "Led Zepplin, Madonna, The Beatles, Dr. Dre, The Ramones, Adele, Carrie Underwood. Your tastes really run the gamut." I said, as Sam approached with her keys.

"What can I say? I like what I like." She grinned. "You're more than welcome to burn anything you want."

"You got any Metallica?"

"Sure. Which one? I have all of them if you need 'em."

And just like that, I knew we were meant to be friends. I reveled in the fact that I ended up not only someone I got along with but actually liked enough to hang out with. The truth was, I could count the number of friends I had on one hand. I had moved away from Hillwood the summer before eighth grade. By that point, Miriam had finally sobered herself up enough to realize what a complete asshole Bob really was. We didn't move far – about two hours or so from the old neighborhood. However, it was just far enough that I never really saw anyone from the old grade school gang again. Well, besides Phoebe. Phoebe and I made it a point to continue our friendship as best we could, talking on the phone at least once a week and, when she was finally old enough to drive, she'd come visit every couple of months. I ended up going back to the old neighborhood. It wasn't like I didn't want to. It would have been fun to visit everyone and some of the old places we used to hang out at: Slausen's, the playground of PS 118, Gerald Field. But Miriam didn't have the cash to buy me a car and it's not like I could ask Big Bob to pony up the cash (we never heard from him again after the divorce was finalized). I also wasn't willing to subject Phoebe to an extra four hour drive to pick me up, bring me to Hillwood, and then just bring me back less than 48 hours later. Not that she hadn't offered. Anyway, she would keep me up-to-date as best she could on everyone's whereabouts. Herald went on to take over Green's Meats after Mr. Green retired. Rhonda was jet-setting around world, frequenting Paris and Milan. Stinky, Sid, Eugene, Nadine, Brainy, Curly, and the rest were off to college or trade school. Phoebe had managed to get accepted to John Hopkins University for Pre-Med and Gerald, who Phoebe began dating during freshman year of high school, was going to the University of Baltimore to be close by. And **him**…Phoebs said that he had spent the summer before junior year visiting San Lorenzo. He ended up falling in love with the people and the area and decided to attend the Universidad de San Lorenzo to major in Social Sciences. When she told me, I was crushed. After all these years, I still cared for him, as hard as I tried to forget. I had always secretly hoped that our paths would cross again. I often dreamed that, one day, he would magically show up at my door. I'd open it to see him standing there, propped against the doorframe. He'd look at me with those huge bottle green eyes, his blonde locks slightly hanging in his face. He'd smile a wonderful lopsided little grin before pulling me flush into and then, with his soft, luscious lips, he'd kiss me with such power that my knees would go weak…

"Hello? Anybody in there?"

I snapped out of my thoughts. "Sorry Sam. What did you say?"

"I said, what are you going to do tonight?"

"The same thing I do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!"

"Ha ha. Very funny." Sam grinned, rolling her eyes. "But seriously, what are your plans for tonight?"

"I don't know. Stay in. Catch up on some reading. Watch a movie. I haven't really decided."

"I swear, Helga, you are the most anti-social person in the world."

"Bite me." She was right, though. Other than going to class and working on a group project or two, I hadn't really gone out and gotten to know other people. Even a majority of the girls on our floor had no idea I even existed.

"You should come with me to the house tonight."

"Ah, Sam. Not again…" I shook my head and groaned. This had become her favorite topic of conversation as of late. She had been dating Rodney, who sophomore and a brother of the Theta Zeta Chi fraternity, for nearly two years. Ever since school started, she had stuck to the same weekend routine: go to her Friday classes, come back to the dorm for an hour or two to hang out with me, go to dinner, and then head over to the fraternity house for the rest of the weekend until Sunday brunch, at which point she'd make her way back to our room to study. Recently, though, she'd been pushing me to join her for their Friday night get-togethers.

"Come on, Helga. It'll be fun. All they do is watch movies and play video games. That's pretty much what you'd be doing here by yourself anyway."

I sighed. "But won't wittle Rodney-poo be all upset I'm barging in on your alone time?"

"First of all, he'd kill you if he ever heard you call him that. And second, it's not really 'alone time' if you're sitting in a living room surrounded by a dozen other guys. Helga, please come with me. Who knows? You might even really enjoy yourself." She flashed me a mischievous smile and winked.

_This girl is seriously not giving up._ "Oh yeah. Because pantsing and fart jokes are such a turn-on."

"Oh come on. The guys aren't that bad. Besides, remember the joke I told you the other day? That came from one of the guys."

I chuckled. Thinking back, we had spent a good five minutes rolling on the floor laughing our asses off.

"All right, I'll think about it." I teased.

Sam's smile lit up her face. "Oh please, Pataki. That means you're going."

I grinned. "Fine. I'll come."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone! Obviously, I managed to get the second chapter up. I've had this ready for a little while but I didn't want to post anything new without having a general idea of where the next chapter is headed. Anyway, to those who reviewed, thank you! For those that haven't, please do! Happy reading, folks!**

**As always, I don't own Hey Arnold! nor any of the other movies/music/TV shows/video games, etc that I've mentioned.**

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"Criminy! Why the hell didn't we drive?"

We had just finished dinner in the cafeteria and were starting to make the trek to Theta Zeta Chi. Sam had neglected to tell me that the house was situated at the front of campus, nearly a half mile from the student center which housed the cafeteria. It wouldn't have been so bad any other time but it was late January and not only was there six inches of snow on the ground but the wind was unbearably cold and cut like a knife.

"Oh this is nothing where I come from," Sam said, looking at me. Of course it was nothing for her. She was bundled up in snow boots, leather gloves, a thick scarf, a beanie, and a long wool coat with a hood. I, on the other hand, had only a short fleece jacket and my combat boots to keep me warm. If I would have known the distance, I would have at least doubled up on the hoodies.

"I don't care how cozy you two are, you could be in the middle of the most passionate night of your life, but Rodney will be driving me back to the dorm tonight."

"Ok ok. Geez. Bitch bitch bitch. That's all you ever do." Sam giggled.

I was too cold to come up with a witty retort so we walked the rest of the way in silence.

"Well, this is it." Sam said as we reached the porch. The house was a two-story colonial sided in white with a covered front porch and red door and shutters. A soft light glowed through the windows and the sounds of laughter could be heard on the other side of the door. Sam knocked twice. "Door's open!" we heard a gravely voice shout and we walked in.

I found myself standing in a dimly lit hallway filled with coats and shoes of varying sizes and colors. I shed my coat to reveal a dark grey and pink hoodie. As I pulled off my boots, I realized how soaked my jeans were. They were damp nearly all the way up to my calves. As I padded out of the hallway in my light pink socks, I realized I was standing in the middle of the living room, several pairs of eyes turning to face me.

'Well look what the cat dragged in."

"Nice to see you too, Rodney." I rolled my eyes.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my roommate, Helga. Helga, this is Brian and Dan."

'Hi," I smiled and waved. "Mind if I grab a seat?'

We sat down on a brown canvas coach, Sam next to Rodney and me next to Sam.

"So, you're the mysterious roommate Sam keeps talking about. Nice to finally meet you. Well, Helga, fill us in a little about yourself. Where you from? What's your major? You know, all that fun stuff." Brian said, offering an encouraging grin.

"I'm originally from New York but moved out to around Allentown, PA a few years ago. I'm double majoring in English and Psychology."

"Odd combo. What made you decide on the double major?" Dan asked.

"Well, I love literature, particularly Shakespeare and really wanted to teach. But my mom insisted that I get something practical that I can actually find a job in. What about you guys?"

"I'm a freshman Chemical Engineering major. Originally from Hartford, Connecticut,' said Brian.

"Junior Criminal Justice major. Queens born and raised," said Dan.

"So where's everyone else tonight?" Sam asked.

"I think there's still one or two drifting around here. The rest are at the apartments out in the back. Last I heard they were having some sort of RockBand tourney." Rodney said.

"I'm shocked you guys didn't join them." Sam said feigning surprise.

"Actually," Dan piped up, "we were waiting for you. Like always."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, sure, it's always my fault."

"Yeah, it is." Brian grinned. "Anyway, what do you gals feel like doing? Video games? Movie? My preference is the latter," Brian turned to face me. "What do you think, Helga? You feel like watching a movie?"

"Sure, whatcha got?" I asked.

"I like a lot of stupid comedies. Animal House, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Anchorman, Ghostbusters. Dan's more into horror and action flicks.' Brian replied.

"I've got the entire Saw franchise and all four Die Hards. Lately, I've been on a James Bond kick." Dan chimed in.

I thought for a second. "Hey, let's try to make the best of both worlds. Some sort of horror comedy. Anyone got a copy of Evil Twin 1?"

Brian smiled. "I like the way you think. I think Shortman has a copy. I think he's still around. Let me go ask him."

_Shortman…_ A chill ran down my spine as my mind raced back to the only person I knew that went by that name. I lightly shook my head, brushing the thought from my mind. _Nah. It couldn't be. He's in San Lorenzo._

Brian called up the stairs, "Hey! Shortman! You got a copy of Evil Twin 1?"

I heard a muffled voice answer, "Sure. Why?"

"We wanna turn it on in the lounge. Care to join us?" Brian shouted back.

"OK. Gimme a sec and I'll be down!"

There was the sound of a chair scraping across the floor somewhere above us followed by some items being shuffled around. Shortly after, footfalls could be heard as someone started to make their way down the stairs.

"All right, who should I thank for making this special request?" he said, chuckling lightly.

_That voice. Why does it sound so familiar?_ I turned my head, glancing at the black Converse, faded blue jeans, and dark blue shirt as they came into view. I continued to watch as a young man slowly descended the staircase until I caught the briefest glimpse of the profile of his face. _Oh God, no._ My entire childhood began to flash through my mind. My eyes immediately shot to the floor and felt my face flush pink. _It can't be. He's not even supposed to be in the same country!_ I tried to force my mind to blank but all I could think of was the deep green eyes that had continually haunted my dreams since I was three.

"Hey Arnold!" Sam stood up to give him a hug. "I'd like you to meet roommate."

_NO NO NO NO NO! This cannot be happening._

My eyes remained glued to the floor as he embraced Sam and then turned to face me. I could feel him smiling his cute little lopsided grin, the same one I remembered from when we were kids. I drove my chin further into my chest as my face flushed even redder and he started to reach his hand out towards mine.

"Hey. Nice to me you. I'm-"

I flicked my eyes up to meet his gaze. In that brief moment of eye contact, I could see a small glint of recognition in his face. I looked back down again, realizing it was already too late. I could feel his glowing smile fading, replaced with a look of pure shock.

"Helga?"

"Hiya football head."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everybody! Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favorited my story! It's nice to know that people are out there reading it and enjoying it. This chapter should hopefully clarify a question or two that was raised. Again, please continue to review/follow/favorite if you haven't already. Enjoy!**

**Note: I don't own Hey Arnold or anything else I may have inadvertently referenced.**

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An awkward silence filled the room. I tried not to ogle him but I couldn't help myself. The puberty gods had been kind to him. He was 5'10", lean, with broad shoulders and toned arms. His cornflower hair was a tousled mess, like he had just rolled out of bed. And his eyes…the brightest shade of emerald green. I was suddenly aware of how drab I looked. Just like everything else in my life, I had managed to get the short end of the stick in the genetics pool as well. While everyone else in my family was nearly 6'0", I had stopped growing in the eighth grade at a measly 5'6". However, my other…assets…had continued to develop long after I had done so vertically. I was still thin but my hips had widened and I now wore a C-cup bra. I had what most people considered a "perfect" hourglass figure but it made me painfully self-conscious. My pink and grey hoodie was two sizes too big and faded with age. My jeans, which were still sopping wet, sported a tear in the knee. My hair was thrown up in a messy ponytail, strands of which had been blown out in the cold winter wind and now hung limply in my face. I had little makeup on, just some foundation and black eyeliner, and two thick (but evenly plucked) eyebrows. My face was red both from the cold outside and utter embarrassment. This was NOT how I had pictured my reunion with Arnold going.

Sam was the first one to speak, breaking the tension in the air. "Wait a minute. You two know each other?"

Arnold quickly regained his composure, gently smiled and nodded. "Yeah. We grew up together. We haven't seen each other since we were…what? 13?"

I nodded my head dumbly in agreement, still stunned that I was once again standing face to face with my golden-haired Adonis.

Sam looked at the two of us. I shifted my gaze to meet hers, causing my cheeks to burn even worse. No sooner had we made eye contact than something appeared to click in her head and an odd little grin spread across her face. "Well," she said, "I'm sure after all these years you two have plenty to catch up on. Come on, guys. Let's go see if anyone's still in the apartments.

Terror set in as I realized what Sam was trying to do. _Oh no! Don't you dare! _ "Sam, I thought we were all going to watch Evil Twin 1," I squeaked.

"Eh. I've all seen it, like, fifty times," she shrugged before turning to face the rest of the group. "Come on, boys. Let's go."

"But, Sam," Brian stuck out his lip in a fake pout. "We wanted to watch the movie!"

"Yeah!" Rodney and Dan said in unison. Sam gave each one a death glare, instantly shutting them up and wiping the smiles from their faces. Everyone knew when Ms. Reynolds meant business. She walked over to Rodney, grabbed him by the hand, and led him out the door with Brian and Dan following close behind. Her demeanor changed as she looked back at me. "See ya later, Helga!" she purred sweetly, winking at me.

"Fuck you!" I mouthed to her, a scowl spreading across my face. _She is __so__ dead!_

Sam laughed as she called back. "G'night, Arnold!"

"Uh…'Night." Arnold said as the door slammed behind the group.

We stood there staring at the door for a minute or two before he finally turned to face me, a questioning look in his eyes. I began to panic. We were completely alone for the first time in nearly a decade. _I have to get out of here! _"Uh, I better go follow Sam." I croaked, turning back to the hallway to grab my coat and boots.

"Uh…OK." Arnold replied. For some reason, I thought I detected a small hint of disappointment in his tone. _You're imagining things. _He followed me into the hall and watched as I slipped on my boots and began to lace them up. I had finished lacing my right boot and was working on the left when I heard him clear his throat and try to speak. "Ahem…um….Helga?"

"Yeah?" I said, not looking up from where I was on the floor.

He hesitated slightly. "If you…uh…still wanna watch the movie, ummm…I'm game."

I stopped and stared up at him, my mouth slightly agape. _Has he completely lost his mind?! _"Wh-what?" I stuttered.

His voice had gained an edge of confidence when he spoke again. "I said if you want to still watch the movie, we can."

I couldn't stop myself. "Why?"

"What do you mean 'Why'?"

"Why would you want to watch a movie with me?

He looked confused by my question. "Why not?"

"Because, Arnoldo, we aren't exactly friends."

He frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"Get real, Arnold. Need I remind you that I've made your life a living hell since the first day we met?"

"Helga, you're being over-dramatic," his face shifted to a look of concern. "What about all the good times we had? Playing baseball at Gerald Field with the rest of the gang. The Thanksgiving we spent walking around the city and then ended up at Mr. Simmons. Winning the sandcastle competition." As the memories came flooding back, a brief smile slipped on to my face. He saw it and smiled back. "See? We may not have always gotten along but things were never that bad. Come on. The past is the past. We've both grown up since then." I looked at him skeptically. "I'll tell you what," he said. "How about we start fresh?"

"And what exactly does that mean?"

"It means we wipe the slate clean of past mistakes and re-start this friendship off on the right foot. Whatda say?" He stuck out his hand towards me.

My brain was screaming._ Is_ _this some kind of trick?_ _This can't be real. You should leave. NOW!_ So I was surprised to hear myself whisper, "Ummm…ok…sure," while shaking his hand.

His face broke out into a wide grin, making my heart skip a beat. _God, how I missed that smile._ "OK. Now how about that movie?"

I took my boots back off and grabbed a seat at the end of the big brown couch as Arnold turned on the TV and popped the DVD in the player. He plopped down at the other end and we sat in silence throughout the opening scene. _What are you doing? _I took a breath and tried to let my brain relax. But there were so many questions I wanted to ask him_. How long have you known Sam? What made you decide to become a brother? How was high school? How's your family? What's your major? WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?!_ I was trying to organize my thoughts when Arnold broke my concentration.

"So, what brings you out to the house tonight?"

"Sam invited me. She said I should get out and meet new people."

He laughed. "Yet she leaves you here by yourself."

"Not really." I shrugged. "She left me here with you."

"True."

We didn't say anything for a moment. My mind flashed back to what happened the last time we were alone_. The roof of the FTi building. But that was so long ago. He's had to have blocked that from his memory. Otherwise he wouldn't have asked me to stay, right?_ I quickly glanced over at him. Arnold had his attention on the screen. One arm was slung casually behind the top of the couch, his legs crossed on the coffee table in front of us. A few stray strands of his blond locks hung in his eyes. My heart fluttered again. _Get a hold of yourself!_ I looked at him again and studied his expression. He seemed rather…bored. _Come on, Helga. You need to make an effort here, OK? _"OK." I whispered quietly to myself. I swallowed the fear that was building up inside of me and started actually making conversation. "So, Arnoldo, why are you here?" He turned to face me, raising an eyebrow at this statement. _Stupid! _I coughed nervously, trying to figure out how to clarify my last question. "I mean, last I heard, you were supposed to be studying in San Lorenzo."

He looked puzzled. "How'd you know that?"

I sheepishly grinned. "I still talk to Phoebe every-so-often."

"Hmm…." He murmured.

"But, anyway, back to my previous question. What're you still doing hanging around here in the States?"

Arnold sighed and looked away. "Plans changed."

It wasn't like him to be so elusive. I wanted a real explanation for why I was suddenly watching a B-grade horror comedy with Hair Boy. "Care to elaborate?"

Another sigh. "It's a long story."

He obviously didn't want to tell me but I wanted, no, **needed** to know the answer. "Well, we've got time." He sat up straight, feet now on the floor, and stared at me, eyebrows furrowed, mouth tight. I kept my eyes locked on his.

"You really wanna know?"

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"Criminy, football head! Just tell me already!"

"Fine." He glanced down at the floor and started talking. "So, last August, I was ready to head off to San Lorenzo. Room packed up, plane ticket bought, the whole nine yards. My classes were set to start in the beginning of September but I was planning on moving down a few weeks early to re-familiarize myself with the area. If Phoebe's been giving you details, I'm sure you already know I went down there about two years ago. Am I right?" I nodded and he continued. "Literally days before my flight, I was working my last shift at Slausen's when I got a call from my Grandpa. He had taken Grandma to the hospital. She…she…uh…' His voice started to waver. He cleared his throat and continued. "Anyway, she was in the shower and had slipped. She hit her head on the way down and was out cold when Grandpa found her. After they got to the hospital, the doctors whisked her away to emergency care. I left work immediately and went straight there. But, by the time I got there, she was already gone."

The hurt and pain were clearly etched on his face. Before I knew what I was doing, I was sitting directly beside him, my hand lightly touching his knee in reassurance. I thought for sure that he would flinch at my touch but he didn't. "Arnold," I whispered softly. "I'm so sorry." I felt a slight pressure around my fingers and it was only then that I realized he was gently squeezing my hand. He quickly pulled away and clasped his hands together as I withdrew mine.

We were quiet for several minutes before he exhaled deeply and continued. "After Grandma passed, I spent a lot of time considering exactly what I really wanted to do with my life. I could either go off and live out my life in South America or I could stay here and take care of the one family member that I have left. So I chose to stay, obviously. I had to scramble to find schools that were willing to accept students so late but, fortunately, I lucked out and wound up here."

"So you've been here since the beginning of the year?"

"Yep."

"Then why haven't I seen you until today?"

"The first semester, I was commuting. I'd go to classes during the day and the help around the boarding house at night. It was during my Calc class that I met Brian and Sam who introduced me to the fraternity brothers. I ended up attending a few of their recruiting events and had such a great time that I decided to pledge in the fall. After that, I tried to juggle all the back and forth between classes, the fraternity, and the boarding house but it ended up being too much. My grades started to slip. So I talked it over with the university, the brothers, and Grandpa and ended up moving into the house over break. I still go home Saturday through Monday to catch up on whatever work needs to be done at the boarding house but I'm hoping the stability of not having to commute during the week will help raise my GPA in the spring." He shifted his eyes from the floor and looked at me again. "Now that I've shared my story, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"I always thought you'd get as far away from New York as possible."

It was my turn to sigh. "That's easier said than done when you have to pay for college yourself. After Bob and Miriam finally divorced, we were left with basically nothing. Miriam and I were barely able to scrape by on her secretary salary the first few years. By my sophomore year of high school, I was sick of living paycheck to paycheck. I wanted more out of life and the only way that was going to happen was if I went to college so I went out and got a part time job as a cashier at the local grocery store. Each paycheck I earned was put towards college minus the $100 or so a month I put into a car fund. I managed to save enough by this past summer to buy the beat up Grand Prix that I drive. It's not much but it gets me where I need to go. Anyway, I knew I couldn't afford to move too far from home without seeing a huge spike in tuition costs so I applied to anywhere and everywhere within a 100 mile radius of home that was both reasonable and allowed me to double major in Psych and English. Out of all of the colleges I was accepted to, this one offered me the largest scholarship. That's why I'm here."

"So it's been just you and your mom?"

"Yep."

"What about your sister?"

"Olga," I sneered, the distaste rising in my mouth, "sided with Bob after the divorce was filed. She blamed Miriam for ruining her 'perfect' family. So that was it. She completely cut ties from the two of us."

"How long has it been since you've seen them?"

"Olga? Probably about 4 years. Big Bob? Not since the day we walked out that summer before eighth grade."

"Do you ever miss them?" he said.

I paused, thinking hard for a moment. "Every once in awhile. But I've always missed the old gang more."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Why's that so surprising?"

Arnold was quiet for a minute. I could tell the gears were turning in his head so as to carefully phrase his next statement. "Well…uh…you weren't exactly…uh…nice to most of us."

"Hey! I thought we were 'wiping the slate clean'."

"We are! I just don't know how else to put it."

I started to laugh. "Go ahead, Arnold. You can say it. I was complete and utter bitch as a kid."

He chuckled. "You said it, not me."

I smiled at him. "I know I was. But, honestly, all those afternoons hanging out with everyone around the neighborhood were the highlight of my day."

"Hey! Remember the football game against the fifth graders?" He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Ha! I had to wash my hair three times that day before I finally got all the mud out. What about the April Fools' Dance?"

Arnold was nearly in tears from laughing so hard. "Oh man! I was so pissed. I ended up walking back home that night, completely sopping wet."

"Me too!"

"And what about the time when…"

We spent the rest of the night doubled over in laughter, reminiscing about old times. I was nearly midnight before I realized I needed to get back to the dorm. "Well, football head, that was fun." I said, still chuckling. I stood up, stretched, and started heading towards the hallway for my stuff.

"Yeah. I had a blast." He said, following me towards the door. I quickly laced up my boots and slipped on my jacket. I saw him grab a heavy black leather jacket from a peg on the wall.

"What're you getting all bundled up for?" I asked.

"I was planning on taking you back to the dorms," he said, matter-of-factly.

"I'll be fine, Arnoldo. It's not that far."

"Helga, it's the dead of night in the middle of January. I'm not letting you walk all the way back by yourself."

I rolled my eyes but grinned. I shouldn't have expected anything less from him. I faked an annoyed sigh. "Fine," I huffed. "If you insist."

"I just gotta grab my keys. Be right back." He shot up the stairs and was back less than a minute later, keys in hand. "All right. Let's go. I'm parked in the back lot." I proceeded to follow Arnold out the same door that we had seen Sam go through earlier that evening. We headed down a small set of stairs and followed a plowed sidewalk to a snow covered lot with a half dozen cars. He motioned to the dark blue Honda Accord directly in front of us. "This one's mine." We both climbed in and Arnold started the engine. "Give it a minute to warm up and then we'll be on our way."

We sat there in silence as the car idled, trying to conserve as much body heat as possible. As soon as the heater started pumping, Arnold kicked the car into gear. Two minutes later, we were stopped outside the dorms. As I reached for the handle, I casually turned to face him. "Thanks again for the ride, Arnold. It was great seeing you again."

"Same here, Helga," he said, giving me one of his heart-melting smiles. I began to slide out the seat when I realized something was tugging at my wrist. I stopped and looked back. Arnold was grasping my wrist. I cocked an eyebrow at him, making him immediately let me go. Arnold began to nervously rub the back of his neck.

"Hey…umm…If you're not busy next Friday, maybe…uh…we could do this again?" A sheepish grin had spread across his face. _Say what?_ I realized I must have been staring again because his face had suddenly begun to flush crimson. He started to double back. "I mean, if you don't want to, that's fine. I just figured…"

"Sure."

He was beaming. "Great! So, how's 7 o'clock sound?" he asked.

"Works for me."

"OK. 7pm next Friday. I'll see you then, Helga. Have a good night."

"Good night, Arnold." I slipped out the door and shut it gently behind me. I walked as calmly as possible to the dorm entrance and then looked back and gave him a wave as I unlocked the entrance. He waved back and I watched him drive off into the night. With that, I took off like a bat out of hell towards my room. _What the fuck have you gotten yourself into?_ I desperately needed to talk to someone. I checked my phone and found two missed texts. The first was from Sam.

"Since i havent heard from u yet im guessing u had a good night with shortman. We'll have plenty to talk about 2morrow. ;) ~Sam~" I groaned. She wasn't going to let me live this down. _Great…_ The other text was from Phoebe.

"Hope you're having fun back at school. Give me a call this weekend!" I immediately shot her a text back.

"U still up?" Seconds later, the little green light on my phone lit up, signaling a new text.

"Yep. What's up?"

"Ur never going to believe what the hell happened to me 2nite. Can I give u a call?"

Almost instantaneously, my phone began to ring. I picked it up.

"Hey, Phoebs."

"Hello, Helga," I heard a small voice reply. "So what may I ask happened that's so pressing to constitute such a late night phone call?"

Suddenly weary, I sat down on the corner of my bed and propped my head up with my hand. "I hope you don't have any early morning plans tomorrow, Phoebe, because this is gonna take a while."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again, everyone! Thanks again for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I didn't have this chapter up earlier but I've been making revision after revision for the past two weeks mainly stemming from catching the "Parents Day' episode on 'The '90s Are All That' on TeenNick. Anyway, I know I promised more, shall we say, "excitement" but I promise that I'll eventually get there. But for now, please enjoy a bit more of the backstory. As always, thanks for reading and please feel free to review!**

**On a side note, I don't own HA!, Def Leppard, TNBC, The Hangover, Iron Man, or any other music/movie/TV show I may have mentioned.**

* * *

Phoebe listened quietly as I re-hashed every detail of that evening's events. "Phoebe, what the hell am I gonna do?" I meekly muttered as I finished. She didn't immediately respond and I could tell she was carefully considering her next statement. After another moment, she softly spoke.

"Helga, why are you so freaked out by this?"

"Because, **Phoebe**, you know how I feel about 'ice cream'." I heard her sigh on the other end. "What?" I barked.

"What are you so scared of?"

"Who said I was scared?" I snapped into the phone, more than a little annoyed by the insinuation of her last question.

"Helga, this isn't like being in preschool. No one is going to laugh at you or make fun of you anymore."

I shook my head. "It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

I exhaled slowly before answering. "Phoebe, you know how much I regret how poorly I treated him. If I can't get over it, how can he so easily?"

"That's just the way Arnold is. He's always been able to forgive and forget."

"But still, Phoebe –"

"We all grow up. You know that. I know that. Arnold knows that. You said he's willing to let the past be the past. Take this as an opportunity to show him who you really are."

"And what if that backfires?"

"Helga," she said sternly, "you acted like yourself tonight, didn't you? And he asked you to come back over next Friday. I'd say that that's a good sign. I mean, come on. This is Arnold we're talking about. He wears his heart out on his sleeve. He wouldn't have asked if he didn't want you to come back."

_Damn Phoebe and her logic._ "Maybe you're right."

"You know I'm right," she giggled down the line.

I smiled. "Thanks, Phoebs."

"No problem."

"Oh, and Phoebe?"

"Yes, Helga?"

"This conversation never happened."

"Forgetting."

"'Night, Phoebe."

"Goodnight, Helga."

I clicked the phone off and quickly got ready for bed. It was nearly 4am before I finally crawled under the covers. I was out cold as soon as my head hit the pillow and that night, I had the most amazing dream.

_I was back on top of the FTi building. I watched as the door to the roof flung open and out he walked. He was just like that night: black slacks, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and black tie. The only difference was, instead of a 9 year-old Arnold, I was facing a 19 year-old Arnold. The cold wind had turned his cheeks a rosy hue and his flaxen locks whipped around his face. His soft lips were curled back into a sly smile as he slowly approached me, his eyes never leaving mine. My heart began to pound. Those eyes…when he looked at me, they pierced into the very being of my soul._ _We were just inches apart. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in close. I could feel the warmth radiating from his skin._ _I saw his mouth move. He was saying something but I couldn't hear over the sound of the howling wind as well as my pulse thudded in my ears. "What?" I yelled._

_He bent down, lips just grazing my earlobe. His earthy scent filled the air and his hot breath against my neck nearly brought me to my knees. "Helga," he whispered, "it's taken me so long to realize the truth." He pulled back. Once again, I was completely absorbed in those emerald pools. He gently placed his hand under my chin. He tilted my face closer towards his. Closer…closer…our lips were almost touching. I could now hear his every word as clear as a bell, as if the whole world had stopped spinning simply to witness this moment. "Helga Geraldine Pataki, I lo-"_

"PATAKI! WAKE THE FUCK UP!"

I shot straight up. In my half dazed state, I searched for the source of the voice that had so abruptly ruined my fantasy. Sam was standing at the foot of my bed, grinning from ear to ear. "Sam, what the hell are you doing here? What time is it?" I said groggily as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"Noon. Now spill it. What happened between you and Shortman last night?" she said excitedly, plopping down by my feet.

"This couldn't wait a few more hours?"

"No."

I stifled a yawn. "We just talked for a while and watched a movie." I could tell that she wasn't buying it. "It's the truth! Seriously. Nothing went on. We're just friends."

"Bullshit, Pataki. You totally like him."

I bit my tongue as I tried to keep both the fear and anger from rising in my chest. _How the hell does she know?_ As close as I had become with Sam, there were still things I hadn't shared with her about my past. _No one knows that besides Phoebe and – _It dawned on me."Sam,' I said as steadily as possible, "it's strictly platonic. If you don't believe me, ask Arnold yourself."

Her smile faded, giving way to a look of disappointment. "I already did and that's exactly what he said." On the outside, my demeanor didn't change but inside I was breathing a sigh of relief.

I was really hoping that that would be the end of the subject. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Sam's smile quickly returned, now twisted into a devilish grin. "But, you are hanging out with him again next weekend, right?" _Dammit._

"That's the game plan," I said casually. Sam let out a squeal of delight.

"Criminy! Get a hold of yourself! It doesn't mean anything."

"Sure. Whatever you say, Helga." She winked. I caught her large brown eyes and gave her a glare that meant business.

"Look, Sam, my relationship with Arnold is complicated. So stop."

She could tell by my tone that she was dangerously close to stepping over a line that she didn't want to cross. She quickly relented. "OK. OK. Geez."

I flopped back into my pillows. Between Sam's lovely wake-up call and my mind still scrutinizing every little detail of what had occurred last night, I was starting to feel the pangs of a massive headache coming on. All I wanted to do was spend the rest of the day in bed. But I had promised to review Sam's American Lit paper that afternoon and I had my own classes to catch up on. I pulled the one of the pillows over my face and decided to close my eyes for one more brief moment before getting I did, a glint of forest green eyes flashed into my mind, the sound of throaty laughter ringing in my ears. I groaned. _Is it Friday yet?_

The week passed in a flurry of homework, exams, and papers. Before I knew it, Friday classes were over and I was back in the dorms. Sam still had one last lecture for the day so I had an hour to kill before she got back. I decided to take this as an opportunity to veg out and troll the interwebs for a while. First stop: Facebook. I logged into my account for the first time in days. Two little red icons popped up in the upper left hand of the screen. I clicked the first one. '**Arnold Shortman has sent you a friend request.**' _Big surprise there. _I smirked as I clicked the 'Accept' button. I moved to the next notification. Again, it was from Arnold.

**Arnold Shortman:** Hey. Hadn't heard from you this week. Are we still on for tomorrow?

_Tomorrow?_ I checked the time stamp. Sent Thursday at 11:32AM. _Shit. He probably thinks I bailed on him._ I scanned the chat availability list at the side and saw he was signed on. I clicked on his name and reeled off a brief message in the chat box.

**Helga Pataki:** Hey. Sorry about not getting back to you sooner. Had a paper due in Psych on Wednesday and an exam in Econ today so I've been neglecting FB. But, yes, we're still on for tonight.

Almost instantaneously, a response popped up.

**Arnold Shortman:** Hey. No worries. Just wanted to make sure you didn't forget. ;) Haha.

_Forget I had plans with you? Never in a million years, my towheaded angel. _"Stop it, you sap," I said aloud, shaking away the dreamy thoughts that were creeping into my mind. "You cannot keep doing this." I tapped out another message.

**Helga Pataki:** Anything you want me to bring over?

**Arnold Shortman:** Nope. Not unless there's something in particular you want to watch.

**Helga Pataki: **I'll tell you what. I'll bring a few DVDs with me. If nothing seems interesting, we can watch one of yours."

**Arnold Shortman:** Cool. Sounds like a plan. Well, I've still got a few things I need to do this afternoon so I gotta go. See you at 7!

**Helga Pataki:** Sure. See ya.

As his name disappeared from the chat list, I felt a wave of uneasiness hit my stomach. I tried to ignore the feeling but found that, the longer I just sat there, the worse it became. I got up and began to pace around the room. _Three more hours. Three more hours. Three more hours._ The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. I needed somewhere else to focus my attention. I plunked down on the floor next to my bed and pulled out a Rubbermaid bin of DVDs. I carefully perused my collection to try to find something worth watching and settled on The Hangover, Iron Man, and, just for kicks, The Nightmare Before Christmas. I was just sliding the bin back under my bed when I heard someone fumbling with keys in the doorknob. I got up and opened door to let Sam in.

She didn't say a word as she haphazardly flung her bookbag down by her desk. She immediately walked over to the dresser we shared and began rifling through my half of the drawers.

"Uh, Sam? Wrong side." She kept digging. No response. _OK. That's a little irritating._ I tried to get her attention again. "You know, if you want to borrow something, just tell me what it is and I can probably find it faster." Still nothing. Now I was severely pissed off. "Sam, get the fuck out of my stuff!"

"Not until I find something for you to wear on your date tonight," she stated, not even breaking her concentration on the task at hand.

I bit my tongue to avoid boiling over. "Did you happen to forget our little conversation from last week?" I seethed, "It. Is. Not. A. Date. And why exactly do I need to change what I have on?"

Sam stopped long enough to quickly eye me over. She simply shook her head and began searching again. "Seriously, would it kill you to try to look at least a little feminine for once, Pataki? Even if it isn't a date?"

I glanced down at my skinny jeans, Def Leppard t-shirt, and black zip-up hoodie. _What the hell's wrong with what I have on?_ I normally would have argued with her about this but I was more put off by her ceaseless exploration of everything I owned. "You want feminine? Fine," I huffed. "Move it, sister!" I shoved her out of the way and pulled open the bottom drawer. I rooted around in the back until I grabbed a small round tin. Carefully opening it, I spilled the contents into my hand. Inside were the few real pieces of jewelry I owned. A diamond pendant necklace. A plain silver ring. A pair of diamond stud earrings. And my two most prized possessions: a gold locket, still housing the seventh grade picture of a certain golden-haired, green-eyed boy and a delicate piece of slightly frayed pink ribbon. I plucked the ribbon out and dumped the remaining pieces back in the can. I pulled my ponytail holder out of the bun I was currently sporting and shook my hair out, letting it cascade loosely down my back. I wrapped the ribbon around my head and tied it off to the side into a small bow. I turned to face Sam. "There. You happy?"

"I suppose that'll do," she sighed. "Still think you should show some cleavage," I heard her mumble under her breath.

"Sam, give it a break."

She gave in. "Fine, Helga. But I still think you've got the hots for him."

"For the final time, WE ARE JUST FRIENDS." _Seriously, why can't she just let this go?_ Of course she was right. But I wasn't about to confess everything to her. Especially not about 'ice cream'. Hell, I had never even told Phoebe outright. She had been smart enough not only to deduce how I really felt years ago but to also leave it at that. An assumption that didn't need to be verbally validated. Sam, however, wasn't Phoebe. She had to know whether her guess was right or wrong. All week long she had been badgering me to open up and confirm her suspicions. It was exasperating. "Sam, what can I say that will get you to believe me?"

"The truth."

I had finally had enough. "You want the truth? All right. Let me give you a little background about the relationship Arnold and I have had."

She clapped her hands with delight. "Oh goody! Story time!"

"Let me make one thing clear though, Reynolds. What I'm about to tell you is to NEVER leave this room. Ever. Capeesh?"

"Scout's honor."

I flopped down on the couch with Sam following suit. "The first time I ever met Arnold Shortman, I was four years old. The day had started out a nightmare. First, I had to walk the seven blocks from my house to Urban Tots Preschool in the rain by myself. On the way there, a taxi drove through a mud puddle and soaked me from head to toe. And, to top it all off, a dog stole my lunch that day. -"

"Wait a minute," Sam interrupted. "Did you just say that, at four, you walked to preschool ALONE?"

"Yes." She stared at me in disbelief.

"What?! Why?!"

_Oh here we go…_"Let me explain something to you about my happy little home life back then. Miriam was the definition of a non-functioning alcoholic. As a toddler, I remember having to take care of myself a good 8 to 10 hours a day because she would either be passed out on the floor or she'd be fending off her oncoming hangover with one of her patented 'smoothies' which consisted of at least 75% alcohol. Then, there was Big Bob the workaholic. He was never home. He always said he had to work late, to quote unquote, 'make sure his company hit profit targets'. Years later, it turned out that that really meant he was screwing his personal assistant after hours. Anyway, when Bob did bother to make it home at a decent hour, it was only for Olga's sake. Wonderful, angelic, popular, perfect Olga. She lived in her own little world. I think she intentionally took on as many hobbies and lessons as she did just so she could block out reality. Finally, there was me. I was the afterthought. Always on the back burner. Never wanted. Never noticed. Never cared for. Nothing."

Sam's mouth had dropped to the floor. "Holy shit, Pataki. That is so messed up."

"You don't have to tell me that. I lived it," I said glumly. "Anyway, getting back to the real story. By the time I reached Urban Tots, I was cold, wet, and absolutely miserable. I just wanted to be indoors as fast as possible. I was so focused on getting inside that I didn't even initially notice I wasn't getting rained on anymore. When I finally did, I turned to face a funny looking little kid with a weird shaped head holding an umbrella over me. I'll give you one guess who it was."

"Arnold."

"Bingo." I let out a sigh as I reminisced. "I'll never forget the first words he ever said to me. 'Hi. Nice bow. I like your bow because it's pink like your pants.' They were the simplest phrases but it was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me before. I was completely dumbfounded and yet, I reveled in that brief instant of attention and kindness. That same afternoon, a kid stole my graham crackers at snack time. I was on the verge of tears until I realized someone was offering me theirs. Again, there he was. I couldn't believe it. Even at that age, he was unbelievably sweet and thoughtful and he was genuinely compassionate towards others. It made my heart melt. But then the other kids noticed my behavior and started teasing me for it. I couldn't handle it. Their laughter made my blood boil. So you know how I repaid Arnold for his kindness? From that day on, I took all my anger I felt towards others out on him. I became his personal tormentor. I bullied him. Relentlessly. And it only got worse as we got older. Spitballs to the back of the head every class. Constant name calling. Threatening to beat him up almost daily. Mind you I never actually physically harmed the kid but it had to have fucked with his head. In fact, head games were my specialty. It got so bad that, one time, I called him at least twice an hour for 24 hours with the exact countdown to his death after a classmate challenged him to a fight the next day." I sat there and hung my head. "Things were not good between us, Sam. Not good at all. But day after day, he'd take it in stride. He may not have liked me but he was still always kind to me, even when I was at my worst. I'm not sure how or why he did it, but he did. This all went on until I left Hillwood. In the years since I moved away, that part of me that lashed out slowly died away. And while I've learned that I had every right to be angry, it doesn't negate the fact that the way I handled it was unacceptable. Thinking about it literally makes me sick. I've never been able to forgive myself for all of that, Sam. I've always wanted to make things right with Arnold. To say how incredibly sorry for everything. To genuinely thank him for always being the only one who seemed to give a damn about me. But I always considered that wishful thinking. I never actually expected to see him again. So when I saw him last week, not only was I in complete shock but I was also extremely ashamed. I'm not that wretched little girl anymore. Far from it. But he wouldn't have known that. I honestly thought he'd take off screaming as soon as he realized it was me. But he didn't. Instead, he actually wanted me to stay. He was willing to let it all go. I don't know if that's because he has truly forgiven me for all the shit I put him through but I do know that I'm going to take full advantage of this second chance. I want show him who I am today. And, frankly, I'm terrified to. I feel like this 'friendship', if you could even really call it that, is already teetering on edge. I'd just really like for him to get to know the real me without him thinking it's because of some ulterior motive other than being his friend. OK?"

Sam nodded her head in understanding. I slumped back into the couch cushions, suddenly fatigued. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. "Sam, what time is it?"

She checked her wristwatch. "6:15."

_That late already? _"Shit. I still need to go grab dinner."

"Don't bother. I checked on the walk back and your choices are either undercooked fish or burned chicken."

"Fantastic. Takeout it is."An idea suddenly popped into my head. "Actually… Hey, Sam? What kind of pizza does Arnold like?"

"Pepperoni and sausage. Why?" Comprehension slowly dawned on her and a Cheshire grin spread across her face. "If you think that'll help win him over, it's a start."

At 7 o'clock on the dot, I rapped twice on the fraternity house door. Within seconds, it opened and I was greeted by a gleaming football head. "Glad to see you made it."

"I said I would." I quickly squeezed into the hallway to avoid lingering in the cold winter air, handing him the pizza box and shopping bag I had been carrying. "Hope you're hungry."

He lifted the lid and took a peek inside. "Pepperoni and sausage. How'd you know?"

"I have my ways." I smirked.

"That was really nice of you, Helga. Thanks."

"You're welcome," I said as I slipped out of my coat. As I hung it on a hook, I noticed he was still watching me. "What?"

"Nothing." He flashed another dazzling smile. "By the way, the bow's a nice touch. Pink always was your color."

I reached up and touched the ribbon behind my ear as I practically oozed into a puddle on the floor. I knew I was blushing profusely. "Thank you," I said quietly as I followed him.

He set the pizza box on the table and carried the DVDs over to the entertainment center. "Mind grabbing some plates and napkins from the kitchen? It's on the other side of this wall."

"Sure." I walked around the corner of the room to find an opening off to the right. I snatched up a handful of paper plates and fast food napkins that were already sitting on the counter and made my way back towards the living room. He was still setting up the DVD player so, while his back was turned, I took gave him a once over. He wore khakis and a cranberry colored t-shirt, the letters ΘΖΧ emblazoned in bone white across the chest. His hair, which I originally thought was wet, was actually slicked back with gel. _God, he looks great._ A twinge of pleasure shot up my spine. At that moment, he glanced up from where he was kneeling. I tried to regain my composure and smiled down at him. "So, uh, what'd you end up picking?"

"You'll just have to wait and see." I furrowed my eyebrows and put a hand on my hip. Arnold chuckled. "There's the Helga I remember." I stuck my tongue out at him as we sat down and grabbed a slice of pizza each.

The opening camera shot was spiraling down to a ring of trees with holiday doors. "Really?" I shot him a quizzical look.

He shrugged his shoulders. "What? It's a good movie."

We demolished the pizza in minutes and settled in for the night. We were a little more than two-thirds of the way through, at the point where Jack Skellington delivers the first Halloween Town Christmas present, when there was a loud knock on the front door. "It's open!" Arnold yelled and we heard it open and slam shut.

A syrupy voice called out from the hallway. "Arnie-poo! Is that you?" _Arnie-poo? _I expected some sort of reaction from this sickening pet name but Arnold didn't even flinch. A minute later, a petite blonde bounced into the room. She immediately targeted him and literally flew into his lap. "Oooooooh Arnold! I'm so happy to see you! I have so much to tell you!" She flung her arms around his chest and held him tight to her tiny frame. _Who the fuck is this? _I narrowed my eyes as I studied the little intruder. She couldn't have been more than 5 feet tall. Her bleach-blonde hair was stick-straight and fell barely past her shoulders. Makeup was caked all over her face and she was wearing black Uggs, a skin-tight black skirt, and a white halter-top with a plunging neckline. _Is she insane?! It's only 30 degrees out! _Her hazel eyes never left his face as she rambled on. Arnold seemed equally entranced by her. Jealousy and anger reared their ugly heads as my face began to burn.

"…And then he said I kept doing this well on the tests, I might be able to sit out on the final! Isn't that great?" She gave him a dopey grin.

"That's wonderful news, Colleen." Arnold placed an arm around her and gave her a small squeeze. She giggled and looked deep into his eyes. Another wave of rage rolled over me.

"You know, Arnold, if I end up getting out of the final, we should have a little celebration." She batted her eyelashes at him and snuggled in closer. I had to force myself to refrain from balling my fists at my side.

"I think we could do that. We'll have to do something really special," he smiled coyly.

"Ooooooh. I'd like that. Maybe we could even get started early. Like tonight?" She started twirling a stray lock of her hair around her finger as she bit her lip. _If I have to watch anymore of this, I'm gonna vomit. _I cleared my throat loudly to get Arnold's attention.

That seemed to do it. He glanced over at me and snapped back to reality. "I'd like to, sweetie, but I'm kind of in the middle something." He gestured towards me and then the TV. It was only then that the bimbo seemed to realize I was even there. She turned to face me and frowned.

"I see. And you are?"

I laid on a thick layer of sweetness to my voice but it did little to hide my disgust. "Helga."

She rolled her eyes and went back to solely acknowledging Arnold. "Well, Arnie-poo, I'll leave you to the rest of your evening." She managed to peel herself off of him and started making her way to the side door. "Call me tomorrow!" She blew him a kiss as she waltzed out the door.

I briefly glanced over at the TV screen. By this time, we had missed the entire ending of the movie. We sat there in silence for a few minutes letting the credits roll until Arnold finally got up to change out the DVD. I was on the verge of a classic Helga freak out so I forced myself to take a few deep breaths before I tried to speak.

"Arnold," I managed to eek out through gritted teeth, "who, or should I say what, the fuck was that?"

He shrugged. "That's Colleen."

_Colleen, huh? _Her name alone made me seethe. _Who does that bitch think she is?! And was all that necessary? I mean, geez, it was like she was staking claim on him or something. _ I was suddenly smacked with the realization that maybe it was I who was walking into her territory. The thought alone made me nauseous. _I'm going to be sick. _There was only one way to quell this feeling but I dreaded the answer. However, my need to know outweighed this apprehension. I had to ask. "How long have you two been together?"

I was blown away by his response. Arnold burst into laughter. "Who? Me and Colleen? Never in a million years." He continued to chuckle as he shook his head.

I instantly switched back into anger mode. "Then what the hell was that all about?"

"That's just Colleen being Colleen. Her moniker around here is the Fraternity Flirt. The guys don't consider you a real brother until she hits on you."

"You're shitting me."

"Nope. And, besides, she's not my type."

"Then why would you egg her on like that? I thought you two would have literally dry-humped the shit out of each other had I not done something."

"Yeah. Sorry about that." He blushed and averted his to anywhere but my face. "Things got a little carried away."

"You think?" I folded my arms in front of my chest and glared at him.

"Look, I'm sorry. I don't always realize I'm doing it. It's been so long since a girl's actually shown any interest in me that I kinda get lost in all of the attention."

This piqued my interest. "What do you mean it's been 'so long'? How long is 'so long'?"

"Two years."

"That's a good one, hair boy. Now tell me the real number." From the look he shot me, I could tell he wasn't kidding. "Seriously, Arnold?"

"Seriously."

I was astonished by this. "I don't get it. How could you, Mr. Nice Guy himself, not have a girlfriend? I always thought you'd have chicks falling all over you."

"Believe it or not, most girls aren't into that. They'd rather have Mr. Rebel."

"Girls looking for a bad-ass are stupid. You're a great guy, Arnold and anyone that can't see that doesn't deserve to be with you anyway." I mumbled. I saw his eyes momentarily widen and the faint hint of a smile play at the corners of his mouth. I blushed hard and quickly fumbled for something else to talk about. "So…uh…two years, huh? Did a lot of dating before then?" All traces of happiness were instantly erased from his face. _Another brilliant move, Helga._

"Not really. I've never been one for the whole dating game."

"So it was serious?" He simply nodded.

"What happened?" For a second, he seemed to grapple with how to answer. "Sorry. That was rude. You don't have to answer that." I quickly threw in.

He stared me down for a moment but I countered his gaze. Something clicked and he seemed to make up his mind. "I'll spare you all the details but I met Erica my freshman year in history class. We immediately hit it off. She was amazing. Smart, pretty, funny. And she got me." A dreamy look slithered onto his face as he basked in the memories. But just as quickly as it had appeared, his face clouded over again. "Things started to fall apart the summer before junior year. I don't know why but I didn't tell her I was going to San Lorenzo for the whole summer until the week before I left. Needless to say, she wasn't too happy about that. I tried to make it up to her. I wrote her almost daily when I was there. I wanted her to know how much I cared about her and how sorry I was. Unfortunately, the damage was already done. When I got back, I tried to rekindle the spark that used to be there."

I interrupted him. "Let me guess. You slept together, hoping to bring the two of you closer together. But, in the end, she smashed your heart into a million pieces. Am I right?"

He nodded his head solemnly. "I should have known it wouldn't fix things but I wanted so badly to make it work. I loved her." I flinched at that comment. The idea of Arnold falling for someone only to find out that she didn't love him back was like the whole Lila debacle all over again except 1,000 times worse. Plus, my 9 year-old self was still stinging from my own rejection long ago. I dwelled in self pity for only a moment before focusing back on Arnold's story. "I was hoping for something, anything, to make her see now much I loved her and wanted to be with her. So...uh…we…uh…"

"Had sex." He fidgeted at the words and started turning scarlet.

"Umm, yeah. That. Anyway, it only drove her away further and faster. The next day, she wouldn't answer my calls or return my texts or emails. This went on for weeks until, one day, I got an email from her. She said I had changed. That I wasn't the same person she had fallen in love with. She said she had tried but just couldn't be with me anymore. I was told not to call, text, or email her ever again. And that was it." He looked absolutely dejected as he finished. It made my heart wrench to see him so hurt. I needed to do something. I shifted from my spot at the opposite end of the couch and edged myself closer to him. I had never been one for physical expressions of compassion so I didn't blame him when he stiffened as threw my arms around his chest and gave him a gentle hug. After it registered that I wasn't trying to kill him, he gingerly placed his arms around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.

"Arnold," I said softly, "I know exactly how you feel."

"Really?"

I nodded. "I had the same thing happen to me."

"You're making that up just to make me feel better."

"I wish." I sighed and decided it was my turn to divulge. "His name was Jeremy. We met in Journalism class my senior year. I was crazy about him and vice versa. Everything was wonderful for awhile. Soon enough, though, we were having problems. I wanted more than anything to make it work and I thought sex was the answer. But after we 'did the deed', he ignored me. We broke up shortly after graduation. I was absolutely crushed and still haven't completely gotten over it." In reality, this was only the half-truth. Jeremy and I had indeed fallen for each other. How could I not have? He was 6'2" with caramel colored hair cropped close to his head, crystal blue eyes, and an incredible smile. He was incredibly thoughtful, sweet, and caring. To anyone else, he was perfect. But he wasn't perfect for **me**. And he never would be. Because my idea of perfect was a kindhearted little boy that had shared his umbrella with an unhappy little girl as she walked in the rain. I tried to love Jeremy. I really and truly did. But no matter how much I wanted to reciprocate his love, I just couldn't. I tried to convince myself that maybe, if I physically got closer to him, my heart would follow. We were only together for four months when we had sex. Immediately, I knew what I had done was wrong. I began to withdraw into myself. He did everything he could to reach me: calls, text, emails, love letters, flowers, candygrams, even spending all evening waiting on my front steps just hoping I'd come out and talk to him. The more he tried, the less I could face him. After a month of virtually no contact, I broke it off via a late night text. I know it was the chicken shit thing to do and it shattered him. Months later, I still felt absolutely horrible about how things played out. I made a vow that, from then on, I couldn't and wouldn't let anyone get that attached to me ever again. Hence why I was, as Sam termed, a "social pariah". And I wanted it that way. Yet, here I was, I realized, attaching myself to Arnold. I knew deep down that I could never truly be 'just friends' with him but I had agreed to anyway simply to be near him again. The boy I loved that I knew would never love me back. _Karma's a bitch…_

I snapped back to the present as he hugged me again. "If I've learned anything from all this, Helga, it's that there's always a reason for everything. You may not see it at first, but, believe me, it's there."

I broke our embrace and lay back on the couch. "You always have to look on the bright side of things, don't you, football head?"

He shrugged. "Somebody has to."

We focused our attention back on the TV and watched the rest of the movie in silence. Unlike the previous week, however, this silence was calm and comfortable. As if an emotional barrier between us had been broken and an unspoken understanding had finally been reached. Neither of us made any attempt to change our proximity to the other. I also noticed that his left arm had remained draped around my shoulders. I swooned. _This is too good to be true._ As the night wore on, I decided to test the waters. I held my breath as I re-adjusted my position and hesitantly moved closer into the crook of his shoulder. I was waiting for him to pull away but no reaction. I sighed and let myself relax. _It's official. Hell has finally frozen over._

Before I knew it, the second movie was over. "Do you want me to put in the last one?" I asked.

"Actually, I hate to do this but I think we better call it a night. I've got to get up early to make the drive back to the boarding house."

"Oh. OK." I tried to hide my bitter disappointment that the evening had to come to an end.

Arnold quickly cleaned up the pizza box and plates and grabbed his car keys while I packed up my DVDs and got ready to head out. We hopped in his car and made the short drive to the dorms. The entire ride I internally debated my next move. _Should I…? But what if he says no? _Phoebe's words from the previous night popped into my mind._ "He wouldn't have asked you if he didn't want you to come back." _I was still hadn't made up my mind as we pulled up to the doors.

"I had a really great time tonight, Arnold."

"Me too, Helga." His eyes shined as they met mine.

In that moment, the answer was clear. _What the hell? Might as well go for broke. _"Would you…umm…maybe like to do this again next week? Maybe…uh…make this a weekly ritual or something?" My nerves were a jangled mess as the words escaped my mouth but they were instantly soothed when a gentle smile danced onto his lips.

"I'd really like that."

I instantly was overcome by a rush of relief. "OK. Cool. I was thinking, uh, since we've kind of been stealing the TV in the living room at the fraternity, maybe it's my turn to host."

He feigned a look of shock. "Why Ms. Pataki! Are you inviting me over to your place?" He winked.

I tried to scowl as I started laughing. "Don't get any ideas, bucko! It's not like it's a date or anything. Just two completely platonic friends hanging out on a Friday night. Got it?"

He chuckled. "Yes, ma'am." We smiled at each other. I grabbed his hand from where it was resting and gave it a small squeeze.

"I'll send you a Facebook message later this week. Thanks again for driving me back, Arnold."

"My pleasure, Helga." He said quietly as he squeezed my hand back. "Good night."

"Good night." I climbed out and scanned my ID to get into the building. Once I had the door opened, I turned back and gave Arnold a small wave. He returned the gesture before driving off. As I made my way to my room, I reached into my jeans pocket and pulled out a tiny object. I stared at the little gold heart as I turned it in my fingers. I had managed to sneak it back out of tin in the drawer when Sam hadn't been looking. I clicked open the latch and stared lovingly at the picture inside. "Sweet dreams, my beautiful prince,' I whispered as I clasped the locket to my chest.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi again! Thank you to everyone who continues to read/review/follow/favorite! I've been working on several chapters at one time but was able to finalize this one tonight. The next few will definitely be interesting. :) But, for now, enjoy and please review, follow, and/or favorite.**

**Note: I do not own HA!, GNR, The Matrix, or any other movie/music/TV show/Etc. mentioned within.**

* * *

I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. It was 6:50pm on Friday and the dorm looked like a pigsty. I had never been one to be obsessive about cleanliness but tonight things had to at least be presentable. "Sam, can you at least clean off the dresser before you go?" I said as I frantically began cramming piles of clothes and shoes into my closet.

She turned her desk chair away from the computer screen. "I suppose," she sighed sarcastically as she packed up her text books and flung her bookbag onto her bed. She slunk over to the dresser and began stacking her cosmetics off to one side.

"I really wish you had woken me up with more than 15 minutes to spare."

"Sweetie, after the week you've had, you looked like you needed those few extra ZZZ's." She was right. It had been a horrendous week. Failed quiz in Biology on Monday, lost Pysch homework on Tuesday, and a last minute rewrite of half my draft English midterm after a power blip wiped out everything kept me up until the wee morning hours the previous night. I had crashed and burned as soon as classes were over. I probably would have slept until the next morning if Sam hadn't woken me up by crawling under the covers with me. "Hey Sexy," she had whispered when I opened one hazy eye. "It's 6:45. You should probably get up or else I'll have to tell Mr. Shortman that you'd rather spend the night making out with your pillow that hanging out with him." That had done it. I shot out of my stupor and had started scrambling.

"Still –"

"Helga, what the hell does he care? He lived in a boarding house growing up and he lives in a fraternity house now. I'm sure he's seen worse. Frankly, if I were you, I'd be more concerned with how **my** appearance than the room's."

I glanced at her over my shoulder as I continued shoveling junk onto whichever shelves had some semblance of room. "Huh?"

"You might wanna go look in the mirror, honey."

I grabbed the last handful clothes and jammed it into place. I slid the closet door shut as quickly as possible to aviod everything spilling back on to the floor and glanced at my reflection on the door mirror. "Shit." My bright pinkand white striped shirt was noticably wrinkled and my hair, which had fallen out of its ponytail, was plastered to the side of my cheek with traces of dried drool. Mascara and eyeliner were smeared across both the back of my hand and across my face. I sprinted down the hall and splashed a handful of water on my face. I pulled my hair back into a loose ponytail as I ran back to the room. Sam was standing there with my trusty eye pencil. I grabbed it from her and began frantically making touchups. I had just finished when there was a metallic knock on the door frame. I turned.

"Hey Helga. Hi Sam."

"Hey Arnold. Looks like you found the place no problem," Sam piped up as she grabbed her keys and snuck past him out the door. "You two have fun tonight. Remember to behave yourselves and play nice," she casually said as she waved back at us before sauntering down the hall.

I rolled my eyes. "Ignore her. Come on in."

Arnold sat the pizza box on the empty dresser top and shrugged off his coat to reveal a charcoal grey t-shirt was paired with his faded jeans and Converse. His eyes scanned around the room. "Not a bad little set up you got here.'

"It's not much but it's home." Neither Sam nor I were into decorating a place we'd only live in for 9 months but what we lacked in design, we made up for luxury items. Besides the school-issued bunk beds and desks, we had managed to fit a futon, microwave, minifridge, bookshelf, TV with built-in DVD player, and a matching dresser and chest of drawers into our tiny abode. I motioned towards the futon as I walked over to the minifridge. "Make yourself comfy. You want a beer or something?"

He looked at me curiously. "I thought there was no alcohol allowed in the dorms."

"Yeah, well, Sam and I tend to bend the rules a bit." I opened the fridge door to show him the stash inside. "So you want one?"

"Sure."

"One sec then." I headed back across the room and quietly closed the dorm door. Apprehension spread across his face. "Relax. You're not trapped or anything. I'd just prefer I didn't get caught by the RA." I re-opened the minifridge and handed him a Coors. "So what'd you bring?"

"Pizza's black olives and mushroom. Thought you might like it."

"Oh really? And how would you know?"

"I also have my sources," he said slyly before winking.

I laughed and flopped down next to him. "So what're tonight's selections?"

"Take your pick: The Matrix, Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Pop Daddy: The Movie."

"Oh man. I haven't seen Pop Daddy in ages."

"Pop Daddy it is then." He popped the DVD out of the case and handed it to me.

"You big into adventure movies?" I asked as I turned on the TV and player.

"Not really. I'm more into Sci Fi."

I grabbed the pizza and set it between us before sitting down again. "Comic-con Sci Fi or 'Destroy the Earth' Sci Fi?" I said, grabbing a slice and shoving it in my mouth.

Arnold did the same. "More like 'The truth is out there'," he answered between bites.

"Should have expected that considering the little stunt you and Gerald pulled that one Halloween."

"Ugh,' he groaned and shook his head. "That was not one of our brighter ideas. What about you? What kind of films are you into?"

"I dabble in a bit of everything."

"You don't have a preference?"

I sighed. "If you must know…80s movies.

He cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "You're kidding."

"Nope. Everything from 'Conan the Barbarian' to 'The Big Chill' to 'Airplane!' to 'Pretty In Pink'. Love 'em all. Even the lame ones."

"I always figured you were more into explosions and high speed chases."

"Oh don't get me wrong. I still am. I could watch 'Lethal Weapon' and 'Die Hard' over and over again."

"Never seen 'em."

I nearly choked on my sip of beer. "What!? Geez, Football Head, what kind of rock have you been living under?" He shrugged. "That's it. Next week we're changing that."

"Which is your top pick?"

"Of the two? 'Die Hard'.'

"And your favorite?"

"Criminy! When the hell did it become '20 Questions with Helga G. Pataki'?"

Arnold smiled teasingly. "Just now. So what is it?"

"Forget it, Hair Boy."

"If I tell you mine, will you tell me yours?"

"Maybe," I taunted.

"'Flash Gordon'."

I doubled over in hysterics. "Oh. My. God. Can you really get any cheesier than that?"

He chuckled. "I know. But it's so bad, it's good." A lopsided grin crept onto his face. "Your turn."

"Hmm….Let me think about that…How about no."

"Oh come on, Helga."

"Fine. I suppose you at least deserve a clue for making me laugh my ass off. 'As you wish.'"

This baffled him. "What does that mean?"

"That's all the help you get, Football Head. You'll just have to figure it out from there."

"Whatever you say, Helga. OK, next question…"

By the time we were on the last movie, we were both buzzed and rather cozy. We had covered a vast array of topics. From favorite musicians (Coltrane for him, Guns N' Roses for me) to the best Saturday morning cartoon from our childhood ('Yo Ernest', hands down) to the worst flavor the Jolly Olly man sold (he voted rum raisin, I went with strawberry of course). We discussed what high school had been like and the extracirriculars we had been in. He told me about taking Lila to senior prom after Arnie dumped her for Hilda. I told him how I had ditched mine to go to a Bon Jovi concert in New Jersey with Phoebe. We even briefly braised the topic of where we saw ourselves in the next ten years. I planned on getting my Masters in Psychology and hoped to be out on the West Coast. He wanted to travel for a year before settling into a counseling position around the old neighborhood. The more we talked, the more I was pleasantly surprised. I never truly realized how little I knew about him. And with each new question, it felt like we were peeling back another layer of ourselves. It was enthralling. I couldn't know enough about the enigma that was Arnold Shortman.

At one point, the conversation briefly lulled and we turned our attention back to the DVD. Well, at least Arnold did. As I lounged on my side across the couch, I stared in amazement at the guy currently sitting on my doom room floor. _What's going on inside that brain of yours?_ I studied his movements closely. I watched as his eyes darted along with the images flickering across the screen. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration and a peaceful smile was on his lips. I smiled. It was one of those moment I wanted to take in and forever etch into my memory. _To think, a few weeks ago, you wanted to run from him._ And then I remembered why.

I sat up. "Arnold?"

"Hmm?" he murmured without breaking his concentration on the screen.

"I just wanna say, I'm sorry."

He leaned his head back on the edge of the couch and looked back at me. "For what?"

"For all the shit I put you through when we were kids."

He turned to face me. "I appreciate the apology, Helga, but as I already told you, the past is the past. Everything's cool."

I shook my head. "No, it's not, Arnold."

He quickly scooted up from the floor to sit next to me. "Helga, listen. I realized a long time ago that there were things in your life that you couldn't or didn't want to discuss with anyone. So you dealt with them the only way you knew how." I gawked at him. _How…?_ It was like he read my thoughts. "What? You think I didn't pick up on a few things during the few one-on-one conversations we had? I'm not as dense as you think."

My eyes shot down and focused on my wringing hands. "I just…I don't see how you can forgive and forget so easily, Arnold."

"I don't know. Maybe because I always knew that, deep down, you were a good person with a good heart. And that maybe all you needed was a second chance to prove that." His face split into a warmhearted smile. "Turns out I was right." My cheeks went as pink as my shirt. I wasn't used to compliments in general, least of all from him. He gazed into my eyes, emerald into azure and myy heartbeat quickened. _Is it hot in here?_ My head felt like it was swimming. "Helga," he spoke quitely, "I just wanna say that –"

**I saw…I saw…your face… and WOW!** _Nice timing, Phoebe._

The moment was gone as Arnold burst out laughing. "Is that really your ringtone?"

"Just for Phoebe. It's kind of an inside joke."

"Are you gonna answer it?" he asked as he wiped a tear from his eyes.

"Nah. I'll call her back when we're done." _Frankly, I have no idea where it even is._

He checked the time on his phone. "Go ahead. I need to be heading back anyway."

I frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Umm…OK," I said halfheartedly. I glanced over to where he was sitting. I stared wistfully as he typed out a text. _Does the night really have to end? _"Can we at least finish the movie? It's only got ten more minutes and I want to see the ending."

He stopped and looked at me. I gave him what I hoped was a convincing smile. He didn't even seem to have to think about it. "I suppose I can stay," he said as slipped his cell back into his pocket.

Before I knew it, the ending credits were rolling. I got up and stretched. Arnold attempted to get off the couch. He swayed briefly before falling back. I snickered as I offered him a hand. "Had a bit too much, Football Head?"

"No." I shot him a knowing look. "OK, maybe," he chuckled.

I became instantly concerned. "You didn't drive here, did you?"

"Nope. Walked."

"You want me to go with you?"

He waved me off. "I'll be fine. No need to escort me back. Besides, I don't like the idea of you walking all the way to the house just to walk back in the dark by yourself."

"Will you at least text or message me when you get back so I know your sorry ass made it back safe?"

"You got it." As he threw on his jacket, he paused. "Hey Helga?"

"Yeah Arnold?" I handed him back his DVDs.

"When's your first class on Wednesday?"

"1 o'clock. Why?" I puzzledly asked.

He smiled. "A bunch of us play cards on Tuesday nights after brotherhood. You should drop by."

"I'll think about it."

His lips curled into a smirk. "I'll see you Tuesday then."

I shoved him out the doorway."Go home, Arnoldo. You're drunk." As made his way down the hallway, I called out. "And you better remember to let me know you get back!" He held a hand up in acknowledgement as he continued towards the exit. I went back in the room and promptly began searching looking for my cell. After ransacking the entire room and digging through the mountain of junk now in my closet, I found it randomly tossed in a dresser drawer. I punched in the familiar number.

"Hello?" came a small voice over the line.

"You have impeccable timing, you know that, Phoebs?" I joked.

It completely flew over her head. "I'm so sorry for calling so late, Helga! Did I wake you?"

"No. Actually, I'm just getting ready for bed now."

"Helga, it's nearly 2 AM! You're normally never up this late. What have you been up to?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I was Skyping with Gerald. And you?"

"I had plans tonight."

"I hope they involved 'ice cream'" she said coyly.

_You have __got__ to be kidding me. _"Is that why you called? To see if I actually followed through with your advice?"

"Maybe," she giggled. "So?"

"'So?' what?"

"So did you spend the evening in Arnold's company?"

_Two can play at this game. _"Maybe," I bantered back.

"That means yes!" she squeaked. "Oh my goodness! Tell me all about it!"

I acted aloof."We had pizza and watched a couple movies. Not that big of a deal."

"So says the girl that was having palipatations over simply being in his prescene only a few weeks ago."

"Yeah well that was different."

"How so?"

"Ummm…I don't know. Maybe the fact that I hadn't seen him since I was 13 had something to do with it," I replied with a note of irritation.

"Now that you're spending time with him, are you two going to make this a re-occurring thing?"

I was hesitant on how to respond but decided to tell her the truth. "We kind of already have."

I could hear her gasp on the other end. "See, Helga! I told you! This is so wonderful! I can't believe it!"

"Chill out, Phoebs. You're starting to sound like Sam."

The exasperation in her voice was evident. "Helga, how are you not excited by this? Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Yes but…" I sighed defeatedly."We both know I'm going to fuck things up somehow."

"Don't say that, Helga! Have some confidence!"

"Phoebe, when have things ever gone this right for me? By my count, I'd say never."

"As Alexandre Dumas said 'A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it.'," she retorted.

"I'm not trying to sabotage myself. I'm just being realistic."

I heard her exhale heavily. "Just promise me you'll keep your cool."

"If I could guarantee that, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"But, Helga-"

I knew if I didn't do so now, it would be hours before the call ended and neither of us would be happy with the resolution. "Look, Phoebs," I cut her off, "it's late and I should let you go since you've probably got some project you've got to be up to work on at 8am."

"7:30am actually."

"Thereby proving my point."

She gave in. "All right. But keep me in the loop, OK?"

"You got it. 'Night, Pheobs."

"Goodnight, Helga."

After hanging up, I sat down at my desk and flipped open my laptop to see if a certain football head was online yet. I logged into Facebook and sent a new message.

**Helga Pataki:** You back?

Seconds later, a response popped up.

**Arnold Shortman: **Yeah. You can go to bed now, ya worry wort.

**Helga Pataki: **Look who's talking, Mr. I-must-walk-you-home-after-dark.

**Arnold Shortman:** True.

**Helga Pataki: **Now get some sleep, Hair Boy. Have fun at home. Tell Phil I said hi.

**Arnold Shortman: **You too and will do. BTW, had a great time 2nite. Can't wait to see you again ;)

And with that, he signed off. I shut my laptop and sat back. _Neither can I, Arnold. Neither can I._


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi everyone! I'm back! Thank you all again for the reviews and follows. I'm glad to know that there are others out there that enjoy reading my stuff as much I enjoy writing it. It's taken me a while to work through the kinks in this chapter and get it to a point where I like where it's going. The next few chapters will lead to some twists and turns since, as we all know, Helga and Arnold's relationship has never been an easy (or drama-less) one. As always, comments are appreciated and encouraged. Thanks again for reading!**

**Note: I don't own Hey Arnold!, Netflix, Jello, or any other movies/TV shows/music/etc that's been mentioned.**

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As January faded into February and then into March, I slowly became a regular at the Theta Zeta Chi house. Contradictory to my initial assumptions about all fraternities, the brothers weren't drunken panty-chasing horndogs. They were all very laid back and rather sweet. When I showed up, they'd either be in the middle of a video game tourney, playing pool or cards, or smoking hookah and watching old TV shows on Netflix. They immediately made me feel welcomed as a part of their group and accepted for who I was. I loved that about them. The same could be said for a majority of the girls that hung around the house as well. Colleen, of course, was the exception. Although she'd never said or done anything against me, something about her rubbed me the wrong way. Probably because the minute she set foot in the house, she'd hone in on Arnold and tear his attention away from whatever he was doing. Every time, she'd intentionally pull him aside from the group, cooing and purring in that little baby voice of hers into his ear, leaving me blind with rage. Unfortunately, that wasn't the worst part. As much as Arnold insisted that there was nothing between them, it was blatantly obvious that that wasn't the case. He was transfixed by her. Like the whole world stopped revolving when she walked in the room. I'd seen him go stupid for girls before but never like this. It was both enfuriating and gut-wrenching. But I kept quiet. If I had learned anything from my past schemes of meddling with Arnold's love affairs, it was that everything I did backfired. So, reluctantly, I sat back and prayed that things played out quickly. At least she didn't interfere with our Friday movie marathons. After those first few weeks, Arnold and I had managed to establish a nice little routine. At 7pm on the dot, one of us would show up at the other's place of residence, pizza and movies in hand. We'd stuff our faces and proceed to settle in for the evening. More often than not, we'd spend more time talking than actually watching the DVDs and, frankly, I preferred it that way. Each conversation was a new glimpse into a side neither of us knew the other had. And each time, I couldn't help myself from falling harder and deeper for him than I had before. So, naturally, I was upset when, in late March, he abruptly cancelled for the following week.

We had just finished another night of food, laughter, and B-rated horror movies at the dorms. I was blissfully content just sitting there, my legs dangling over over the arm of the couch and my spine pressed into his side, he with one arm folded behind his head and the other draped lazily around my shoulders. We watched nearly half the credits scroll through before he sighed and lightly tapped my arm. I took that as my cue to sit up and I shifted around to face him as he got up. "Helga," he said quietly, 'I'm really sorry but I'm not going to be able to make it next week."

"Oh?" I got to my feet as well and started cleaning in an attempt to distract myself the bitter disappointment I was feeling. _It was fun while it lasted._

He nodded glumly. "Since it's Going Through Week for the pledges, we're not allowed to go anywhere but classes and the house is on shut down."

_Ohhhh…_ I let out what I hoped was an inconspicous exhale of relief. _He's not bailing just because it's me. _"Yeah, I vaguely remember Sam mentioning something about that. So I guess I'll see ya in about two weeks then?" I replied nonchalantly.

A small grin curled at the corners of his mouth. "Actually, there's a party next Saturday to welcome the new brothers. We're planning on going out to dinner beforehand. I was kind of hoping you'd join us."

I stopped and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Wait a minute. I'm confused. Aren't you planning on going back to Hillwood that day, like you always do?"

"Grandpa let me off the hook this weekend. Said I should go 'paint the town red'."

"I don't know, Arnold," I said hesitantly. "Parties aren't really my thing."

"Come on, Helga. You know these guys. It'll be fun."

"Ummm…uh…" I hemmed and hawed.

"How about this? As soon as you're ready to go, all you have to do is say that word and we'll leave. No questions asked." He gave me a hopeful look.

"That a promise?" I replied, eyeing him cautiously.

"Scout's honor." He said seriously as he held up his hand.

"Well…" A coy smile played upon my lips. "I suppose I could make an appearance…"

His face lit up. "Great! I'm not sure of all the details yet but Sam's the mastermind so you'll have to talk to her."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. That'll be real hard. Not like I live with her or anything."

He chuckled. "With as often as she stays at the house, who knows where she technically lives anymore."

"Touche, Football Head."

"All right. I'm out," he said as he grabbed his stuff and zipped up his coat. "Have a good rest of the night."

"You too. And good luck with Going Through. I'll see ya Saturday."

As he reached for the handle, he paused to glance back. "Oh we'll be in touch before then." He winked as he slipped out the door.

_What the hell did that mean?_

In the blink of an eye, Friday was once again already upon me. And I was praying that the day flew by as fast of the rest of the week had. Between getting my midterm grades back and my anxiety for Saturday, it was also March 25th. I had always hated my birthday for as long as I could remember. As a kid, my 'family' (and I use the term loosely) never celebrated, mainly because they barely even acknowledged I existed let alone the day I was brought into this world. And that's never changed. Even now, I think Miriam has only ever given me a birthday card once which, come to think of it, was several weeks late and had the wrong age on it. Over the years, I had grown acustomed to dreading the day hence why I always set my expectations low. This year was no different. The only thing I wanted was to simply make it through those 24 hours unscathed. And, for once, it actually seemed to be turning out that way. Not only did I manage to ace my Creative Writing assignment but my Biology midterm as well. When I went to check my mail after lunch (which had actually been tolerable compared to the normal gruel they served), I was pleased to find a card from Pheobe. I had somewhat expected this. Even if Miriam didn't remember, she always did. However, the chocolate chip cookies that she sent in addition were quite a surprise. And to top it all off, my Psych quiz had been delayed until the following Tuesday. Because of all this, I was on actually on an emotional high when I returned to the room that afternoon. As I turned the key in the lock, I smiled to myself. _Could this day actually get any better?_

"Happy birthday, bitch!" Sam shouted as I threw open the door.

I was momentarily stunned. "Sam, what're you doing back?" It was then that I finally got a good look at the room. "What the hell?" Multi-colored streamers were hung all over the walls and a half a dozen balloons were tied to the back of my desk chair.

She shrugged. "My last class got cancelled so I decided to have some fun. It's just a bit of crepe paper and some balloons. I figured anything more and you'd shoot me."

"Good call." I smirked. As I dropped my backpack to the floor, I offered her the box in my hands. "Want a cookie? They're homemade, compliments of Chef Pheobe."

Sam picked one out of the box and popped it into her mouth as she took a seat on the couch. "You have **got** to get this recipe from her. They. Are. Amazing. By the way," she motioned towards the doorway. "Looks like you have a visitor."

"Huh?" I spun around to see Arnold leaning against the doorframe. "Hey, Football Head. What are you doing here? You want one too?"

"Can't say 'No' to one of Phoebe's creations," he remarked as he grabbed one. "I was on my way back to the house after class and decided to drop by."

I arched an eyebrow. "I thought you said no side trips this week."

"This is a special exception." He slung his bookbag off his shoulder and set it on the ground. "I know you're not big on celebrations but…" He reached inside and pulled out a small bouquet. "If I remember correctly, you said you liked daisies."

I thought I felt both my head and my heart explode at the same time. Somehow, I gathered enough of whatever wits I had left to manage a nod. He smiled and embraced me in a hug. I nearly collapsed as my legs turned to Jello. "Happy birthday, Helga," he whispered.

"Th-Th-Thank you," I barely stammered out. He broke contact and picked his up belongings. "I hate to run but I do have to go." He took my hand and gave it a small squeeze. "I'll see you tomorrow, OK?"

"K."

We stood there like that for a moment longer before he let go. He waved to Sam behind me. "Catch ya later, Reynolds."

"See ya, Shortman!" she called back.

As he left, I watched him walk down the hall and out the exit before I gently shut the dorm door. Sam immediately shot up from her seat.

"Oh my God! That has to be **the** sweetest thing I've ever seen!" she squealed as I looked stupidly at the white and pink flowers in my hand.

"He didn't have to do that," I murmured, still stunned at what had just transpired.

"Of course he didn't **have** to. He said he **wanted** to."

_I almost wish he hadn't._ Gestures like this drove me to my original obsession with him in the first place. I had been able to keep my emotions in check thus far but when little incidents like this occurred, I was pushed to the edge of blowing the whole friendship thing out of the water and exposing my true feelings all over again.

Sam let out a low whistle. "Giirrrrllll, I'll be damned if that boy doesn't like you."

"Oh for cryin' out loud…Shut the hell up, Sam," I snapped back. "He was just being nice. You know how Arnold is. He'd do the same for anyone else."

"Pataki, you are really that far in denial?"

"No. I'm looking at things realistically. You're the one reading too much into things."

She gave an exasperated sigh. "Whatever. I'm not going to argue with you about something you blatantly choose not to see. Anyway, are you coming out with us to help decorate tonight?" Sam had been asking me everyday since Sunday to join the rest of the fraternity girls in helping make goodie bags and paint signs welcoming the new brothers and each time I had turned her down.

"Nah. I think I'm gonna hang here."

She gave an exasperated sigh. "Whatever. I'm not going to argue with you about something you blatantly choose not to see. Anyway, are you coming out with us to help decorate tonight?" Sam had been asking me everyday since Sunday to join the rest of the fraternity girls in helping make goodie bags and paint signs welcoming the new brothers and each time I had turned her down.

"Nah. I think I'm gonna hang here."

I expected her to push harder but she didn't. Instead, she simply got up and grabbed her purse from her desk."Suit yourself," she replied casually as she pulled out her car keys. "Are you at least coming to breakfast with us?"

"Depends on what time."

"How about I give you a call when we're on our way?"

"Works for me."

"See ya later, Pataki. Enjoy your evening of daydreaming about Mr. Shortman." She wickedly laughed as she escaped out the door.

"She's lucky I don't beat her face in," I huffed. Of course, there was some truth in what she had said. A certain football-shaped head was indeed on my mind. As I prepped a cup large enough to be a makeshift vase, I questioned the latest turn of events over and over. "How did he know it was my birthday? It's not even on my Facebook profile! Sam must have told him. She's the only one I mentioned it to," I mumbled to myself.

The small voice in my head interjected. _Or maybe he actually remembered it?_

"No way."

_But he remembered you liked daises._

"Yeah because I told him, like, 3 weeks ago. Why'd he get me anything, anyway?"

_Maybe he likes you._

I shook my head violently. "Jesus Christ, Pataki! You've finally gone fucking insane! I need to talk to someone that still has some common logic left." I reached into my jeans pocket and pulled out my cell. I quickly scrolled through the contact list and found Phoebe's number. The phone rang a half a dozen times before there was a click on the other end. "Phoebe! I -"

"Hi. You've reached Phoebe Heyerdahl. I can't come to the phone right now but if you leave your name and number after the beep, I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you and have a nice day!"

"Dammit!" I whispered under my breath as the tone echoed down the line. "Hey Phoebs. It's Helga. Just wanted to call and thank you for the cookies. Anyway, I, uh, wanted to discuss something with you so when you get a chance, gimme a call, OK? Talk to you later. Bye." I punched the 'END CALL' button and threw the phone onto the bed. "Well, that was worthless," I said as I slid into my desk chair. I was still utterly conflicted and confused. "Now what?"

_You know the answer to that one._

I grinned as I started up my computer, opened a new Word document, and began to type.

I spent the rest of the night writing. I spilled my inner thoughts and feelings onto those pages just like I used to. How it felt to actually be able to be my true self around people for the first time in my life. How I couldn't help but despise Colleen even though it was completely unjustified. And how I wanted to tell Arnold everything but knew it'd freak him out and destroy what little connection we had. That, of course, was the main focus of the evening. By the time I finished putting thoughts to paper, I was left me feeling cathartic yet utterly exhausted. I crawled into bed around 3am and fell into a dead sleep. That is, until the sound of tapping startled me awake at 7am.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I groaned as I wiped the sleep from my eyes. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stomped over to the door. "Look, whoever the fuck you are, you better have a good fucking reason for beating down my damn door at the ass-crack of dawn on a Saturday morning. What, asshole?" I growled crossly as I flung open the door. I nearly swallowed my tongue as I came face-to-face with Arnold.

"Not much of a morning person, are we?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Sam told me you were expecting a wake-up call for when we went to breakfast."

"Yes. A call. As in a **phone** call. Not **you** beating down my door."

He frowned. "If you don't want to come with us, that's fine. I'll just go then."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. "Sorry. Didn't mean to snap. Yes, I'll come along. I just need a few minutes to wake up and change."

He gave me a lop-sided grin. "No problem. You want me to wait outside?"

"Nah. It won't take me long. Come on in."

I moved out of the way to let him in. He took a seat at the foot of my bed as I fumbled around in the dresser for a clean shirt, bra, socks, and jeans. "I'll be back in a sec," I stated as I headed out the room and across the hall to the bathroom. I went into the nearest stall and slipped on the white bra and socks, plain grey t-shirt, and faded jeans I had pulled out. I returned to the room to find Arnold sprawled out on my bed, half asleep. I watched him for a moment. _Note to self: Never wash those sheets again._ I snapped back to reality. "Oh gimme a break. I've only been gone five minutes, " I replied as I tossed my dirty clothes into the closet.

His eyes flickered open into his trademark half-lidded gaze. "That's not it," he yawned as he stretched himself out and sat back up. "I'm just drained. I've been up nearly 24 hours straight."

"Excuses excuses," I scoffed as I dug once again through the drawers for a sweatshirt and my hair brush. I threw on my favorite pink and grey hoodie before I ran the brush through my blonde locks. There was still an indent from the ponytail I had worn the previous day so I hastily threw my hair into low bun. I took one last look in the mirror hanging on the closet doors. _Fuck it._ _It'll have to do._ "All right. Let's GTFO," I said as I grabbed my keys, ID holder, and phone from my nightstand. We made our way out the door and towards the exit where Sam was waiting for us in the Civic with Rodney.

"Good morning, Starshine! The Earth says hello!" Sam exclaimed as Arnold and I climbed into the backseat.

"Both you and the Earth can suck my non-existant dick," I shot off.

"Awww someone's in a chipper mood this morning," Rodney replied as he turned in the passenger seat to face me.

"After only four hours of sleep? Of course."

"Hey. At least you got some shut-eye. Some of us are running on empty," he retorted back.

"So I've been told." I glanced over at Arnold in the other seat. He had leaned his head against the window glass and was once again nodding off. "Ain't that right, Arnoldo?"

The sound of his name somehow registered. "Huh? What?" he said dazedly as he looked at me.

I smirked and turned my attention to the outdoors. "Nevermind, Football Head. Go back to sleep."

We drove for another 15 minutes until we reached the nearby IHOP where we met up with the others. Although there were over thirty of us there, breakfast passed by rather quietly, mainly due everyone's collective exhaustion. After finishing our meal and safely navigating our way back, we dropped the guys back off at the house.

"So Argo's at 8pm, right?" Arnold asked as he unbuckled his seatbelt and started to climb out of the Civic.

"Yep. We'll meet you here around 7:45pm to walk over." Sam replied. While they were talking, I had gotten out of the back to switch to the front passenger seat that Rodney had vacated. As I was about to hop in, Arnold placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, why don't you come over early? We can make up for missing yesterday."

As desperately I wanted to take the opportunity to spend more time with him, the bags under Arnold's eyes told me the answer I needed to give. "Sorry, Football Head, but not this time."

Disappointment etched into his face "Oh, uh, OK," he stammered.

I gave him a reassuring smile as I brought a hand up and lightly tossled his hair. "You'll see me again soon enough, Hair Boy. Now get some rest. You and I have got a helluva night ahead of us."

This seemed to perk him up. As I ducked inside, he gently shut the door behind me. Sam kicked the car into gear and we slowly pulled out of the drive. I watched in the sideview mirror as Arnold waited until we were back on the main street before heading into the fraternity. I let out a small sigh of happiness.

"Oh Pataki - " I didn't even need to look at her to know that Sam had a huge shit-eating grin plastered on her face.

"One more word, Reynolds, and I will personally see to it that you'll be permanently eating your suppers through a straw," I said as I slunk back into the seat and closed my eyes, the image of that smiling golden haired, emerald eyed boy drifting me peacefully off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again, everyone! I'm back! First of all, thanks for all the reviews and follows. They're greatly appreciated. I worked on this chapter throughout the holidays and had it ready to go nearly a week ago. That is, until my charger died. So my laptop with all my writing has been out of commission since then. However, I used the downtime wisely and wrote a small one-shot instead! Once I finish the edits, I should have that posted in the next few days. In the mean time, please enjoy another chapter for "Begin Again". As always, feedback and follows are greatly appreciated. Thanks and happy reading!**

**PS - I do not own Hey Arnold! nor any other TV show/music/movie/etc. referenced below (or anywhere else in my story, for that matter).**

* * *

I ended up being a total waste of space the rest of the day. No sooner did we get back in the room than Sam and I both collapsed into our beds. I was instantly out like a light and stayed that way until nearly 2pm in the afternoon. Even after I awoke, I still laid there for another hour letting my mind wander aimlessly. It wasn't until I heard Sam fidgeting around that I finally got up. As I crawled out from underneath her bunk, I saw her leg hanging precariously over the edge. An idea popped into my head.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!" I yelled as I gave her calf a loud 'THWACK!' with my hand. She immediately shot up out of her slumber and glared at me through barely focused eyes.

"The fuck?"

"That's payback for the lovely wake-up call you gave me this morning." I jabbed a finger at the floor. "Now get down here so I can kick your ass in MarioKart."

"Oh piss off. You know you loved it," she stated smugly as she climbed down her ladder.

"You're an idiot," I said, tossing her a controller.

She stuck out her tongue as she plunked down on the couch next to me. "Takes one to know one."

"That's it. You're going down."

"Bring it."

We were on the second lap of the last race in the Mushroom Cup when my phone started buzzing. "Hey!" Sam shouted in frustration as I paused the game. "No fair! I was totally about to cream you with that shell!"

"Stop being such a whiny little bitch. You'll get your shot when I'm done." I clicked the 'Accept' button on the call.

"Helga Pataki's House of Mayhem. How may I help you?"

"Oh Helga! I'm so sorry I didn't call you back sooner!" a quiet voice exclaimed.

"Chill out, Phoebs. It's no biggie." I stood up and started heading down the hall to the exit. "Anyway, what have you been up to?"

"Not much. I'm visiting Gerald this weekend which is why I didn't respond."

"Been a little 'pre-occupied' then? If you know what I mean," I teased.

The comment completely went over her head. "Very much so. We went out to dinner last night and spent the entire afternoon today at the Maryland Science Center."

Just then, another voice echoed in the background. "Hiya Gorgeous. Who you talkin' to?"

"Helga. I'm returning her call from yesterday."

"Mind if I have the phone? I wanna have a little chat with her." I heard the phone being jostled around before a deep, gruff tone came over the line. "Pataki."

I mimicked his inflection. "Johanssen."

"Heard you've been hanging out with my best friend quite a bit lately."

"Yeah. So?" I replied hotly. "What's your point?"

His words were like ice. "I'm only going to say this once so listen closely. I don't know why he's given you a second chance. If it had been me, I would have transferred schools by now. But let's get one thing straight. Do **NOT** screw this up."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Geraldo."

"I'm just sayin' your reputation precedes you."

"Yeah yeah yeah. I hear ya. Yeesh. Now put your girlfriend back on the line," I demanded.

There were the random noises of the phone being handed off before I heard Phoebe again. "Helga, I'm so sorry about that. If I had known –"

I chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I said worse to him when you two first started dating. If I remember correctly, it was something along the lines of 'I will cut your balls off and feed them to the dogs if you hurt her.' So, trust me, I take no offense. I know where he's coming from."

"That's still no excuse to be RUDE," she raised her voice in irritation.

"Don't be mad at him. He's just looking out for the kid. And I don't blame him. I'm not exactly a fucking ray of sunshine."

She changed back to her spritely self. "But things have still been going well, right?"

"Yeah. Really well, actually," I begrudgingly admitted.

"Good. Just keep reminding yourself not to over-think things. Now you said in your message that there was something you wanted to discuss."

I grinned. "I think we just covered everything."

"Excellent."

"Thanks, Phoebs."

"Sure thing, Helga. Have a good weekend!"

"Likewise. Talk to you later."

"Bye."

I hung up and headed back towards the room. When I got there, Sam was nowhere to be found but I noticed her shower stuff was gone. I decided to follow suit and grabbed my flip flops, robe, and shower caddy. I walked into the bathroom and ducked into the last stall, turning on the faucet. I shed my clothing and climbed in. The initial blast of hot water against my bare flesh made me flinch but, soon after, the rhythmic pounding of it against my body quickly took me away, leading my mind to drift off into fantasyland. _Rough hands sliding effortlessly across my skin. A flash of a steady green gaze. A lop-sided smile before the brush of soft sweet lips came in contact with my mouth. "I love you, Helga."_ I shivered with pleasure and proceeded to turn the temperature up as high as it could go. I stayed that way, letting the beads of scalding water entrance me until my body was as red as the flush that had crept onto my face. I shut off the tap and stepped out, wrapping myself in the nearby robe. I made my way around to the other side of the bathroom and, wiping the steam from the fogged over vanity mirror, took a hard look at the reflection staring back at me. _You can't keep doing this to yourself, Pataki. You need to tell him the truth. _"Can't," I mumbled to myself. I grabbed my things and set off for the dorm. As soon as I set foot in the room, I was greeted to an eyeful of boob. "Jesus Christ, Reynolds. Think you can show anymore skin?"

"WHAT?" Sam shouted over the sound of her hair dryer. I waited for her to finish before repeating my question.

"What the hell kind of outfit is that?'"

"Oh. You like?" She struck a modeling pose. I stared at her sky high stilettos, skintight black jeans, and the blood red corset top her cleavage was pouring out of.

"Yeah. If looking like a prostitute was your intention."

She smirked. "Glad you approve because you'll be wearing something similar."

"Like hell I will!"

"Come on, Pataki. Have little fun and dress up." She teetered over to her makeup kit on the dresser.

"Why? It's not like I'm trying to impress anyone." _Liar._

"Uh huh. Right." She paused in the middle of applying her blush to roll her eyes.

I sighed and pushed past her to get into the drawers. I grabbed a nude strapless bra, pink thong, and the darkest pair of jeans I owned. I then dug through my closet for one of the few pieces of clothing I considered nice enough to actually be worth hanging. I pulled out a long pale pink one-shoulder t-shirt. I threw everything on to the bed. "Sam, you mind?"

"No problem." Sam grabbed her flat iron and shut the door to allow me the opportunity to change. I swiftly threw on the outfit I had laid out and re-propped the door open before snatching up the still plugged-in dryer. After several minutes of blowing my hair dry, I finally took a glance at myself in the closet mirror.

_Of course. The one time I actually want it to look nice._ I sneered disgustedly at the rat's nest on the top of my head. I walked back over to the dresser and picked up my makeup bag before settling down in front of the mirror. I pulled out a hairbrush and slicked it through my yellow locks a few times. I undid a hair tie from around the brush handle and threw my strands into a messy ponytail. I cringed at my reflection. I pulled the band free and tried a bun. _Better but not quite... _I decided to try something that I hadn't done in years. I pulled another ponytail holder from the brush and tied two loose pigtails at the base of my neck. _Not half bad._ As I started on my makeup, Sam walked back in. "Does this suffice for your definition of 'dress up'?" I said, motioning to her from my seat.

She looked down at me. "Considering the fact that it's you, I suppose."

I finished up my normal routine of foundation, touch-up, and black eyeliner in mere seconds. Looking in the mirror, I realized there was still something off. "Sam, can I look through your cosmetics?"

"Knock yourself out."

I glanced through the many bottles and palettes and managed to find what I was looking for. I grabbed a Q-Tip, swiped it through a tube of bright pink lip gloss, and applied it to my lips. I picked up my belongings and placed them back in their original position. I then rooted through the bottom of the dresser for my jewelry tin. I had replaced both the ribbon and the locket after that night, too afraid of losing either. On this occasion, however, I found it appropriate to pull out at least one of the pieces. I grabbed the thin pink ribbon and tied it tightly around my neck into a choker. I flopped onto the couch and looked at the DVD player clock. "We've got 15 minutes before we supposed to be over there."

"Almost done." Sam quickly finished lacquering on a coat of red lipstain. "And there. Perfect." I got up and slipped on my black flats before grabbing the black zip-up hoodie sitting next to my bed. I stuffed my keys, cell phone, school ID, and credit card into its pockets as Sam slid into her coat and shoes and picked up her purse.

The night was a pleasant one as a warm front had brought the temperature to a comfortable 60 degrees. As we trotted along, Sam rambled on about the prior evening's gossip. Normally, such trivial discussions would have made my ears bleed but, tonight, I let it go. Sam was in a good mood and her excitement was contagious. When we reached the house, we didn't hesitate to walk right in. Seated in the living room were several of our dining companions. "Hey guys. Ready to go?" Sam grinned enthusiastically.

"We are. But Rod and Shortman are still dicking around upstairs," a brother by the name of Marco mentioned. Sam checked her phone and frowned.

"Shit. It's five 'til. We're gonna be late."

"Why don't you guys go on ahead? We'll meet you there," I offered as I mounted the stairs. "Sam, you go grab Tweedledee. I'll get Tweedledum."

I had made it to the top of the staircase and was just about to head towards Arnold's bedroom when the sound of two familiar voices coming down the hall stopped me in my tracks. As they approached, I made the split second decision to hide and dived into the nearby bathroom.

"Ooooo, Arnold! Tonight's gonna be so much fun! I can't wait!" a high pitched voice rang out.

"Yeah. It should be a good time. Are you sure you don't want to go to dinner with us, Col?"

"Nah. I still have to go make myself beautiful. Although that shouldn't be that hard since I already am." I held back the urge to vomit as she giggled. "You **sure** you don't need me to help **you** finish getting ready?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

A short squeal and the sound of footsteps thumping down the stairs soon followed. I swallowed the bitter lump in my throat and continued on my mission. '_Although that shouldn't be that hard since I already am.' Stupid egotistical… _I was about to angrily slam my fist into the partially ajar door when I happened to catch a glimpse inside. My hand immediately stopped midair. _Oh sweet Jesus. _Arnold was standing in the middle of the room, back to the door, completely shirtless. I ogled every inch of exposed flesh. Although not heavily built, he was lean and definitely muscular. Broad shoulders gave way to a thin waist line. His jeans rode just low enough on his hips to uncover a mere half inch of his blue striped boxers. I watched as he ambled across the room, threw open his closet, and began skimming the rack. He pulled out a dark green t-shirt and red plaid flannel before turning around. I stood there transfixed for what felt like hours. The pectorals of his chest flexed and rippled with his every movement. The slightest hint of definition in his abdomen led to the deep 'V' of his pelvis down to his…I shuddered as my loins started to throb and ache. _Settle down before you have to go home and change your pants!_ I took a deep breath to calm myself and waited until he was fully dressed before knocking.

"Come in!"

I opened the door and leaned in against the doorframe as casually as possible. "Hey, Football Head." I gave him a once over. "Nice getup. The '90s called. It wants its outfit back."

"Funny. It told me to tell you the same thing."

"Blow me."

He smirked. "I think that's my line."

I cracked a smile in amusement. "Feisty tonight, are we?"

"Sorry. After being cooped up here for a week straight, my mental filter has gone out the window."

"No apology necessary. It's about time you started throwing some barbs back my way. Anyway, you about ready?"

"About." He grabbed his keys and wallet from his desk. "OK. Let's get out of here."

I took the lead as we headed towards the living room. When I hit the bottom step, I nearly puked for the second time that night. Sam was straddling Rodney in the middle of the couch. He had one hand on her hips and the other was toying with her breast. At least one of hers was shoved down his pants. Each had the other's tongue halfway down their throat. "For fuck's sake, you two! Nobody wants to see that shit!" I shouted in revulsion.

Sam turned and climbed off Rodney's lap. "If it bothers you that much, Pataki, we'll make sure to do it in front of you more often."

Arnold, rather unfazed by the horror we had just witnessed, looked around the empty room. "Where is everybody?"

"Meeting us there since you took forever," I said.

Arnold looked down at his wristwatch, "Shoot. I didn't realize it was this late. We need to get out of here."

We hightailed it out the door. Fortunately, we didn't have far to go. The steakhouse that Sam had chosen was in the center of town along the main street. When we arrived, the others had already been seated. We grabbed the last four spots at the very furthest end of the table and quickly settled in.

Dinner went off without a hitch. The dozen of us spent the entire time enjoying recapped stories from the events of the past week. As the meal began to wind down, the server started calling out checks.

"Medium sirloin with a baked potato?"

"Down here." Arnold's hand shot up into the air. "I'll also take the one with the New York Strip and House Salad," he said as the waiter handed him the small slips of paper.

"What do you think you're doing, Football Head?" I hissed at him across the table. "That's my bill."

He slipped a few $20s into the check holder. "Consider it my treat."

"Forget it." I tried to seize the little black folder but he snatched it up and gave it back to the server before I could get my hands on it.

A tiny self-satisfied grin spread across his face. "Too late."

I crossed my arms over my chest as I leaned back in my chair. "Fine," I huffed. "But I'm buying the pizza for the next two weeks then."

"Deal."

Once everyone had paid, the group of us made our way further down the main street until we were at the edge of the town. We walked another three blocks down a side street to reach the party. A substantial crowd had already gathered by the time we got inside.

"Let's ditch our gear and get us a few drinks," Sam stated as she grasped my hand and dragged me through the kitchen. We wandered into the laundry room where we shed our hoodies before making our way back out to the main section of the house. We were passing by the fridge when my shoulder accidentally slammed into someone trying to squeeze by.

"Sorry! Oh, it's you. Nevermind then." I smirked as Arnold turned to face me.

He rolled his eyes but smiled as he handed me a red Solo cup filled to the brim with beer. "I'll let that one slide. This time." He took a sip of his own drink. "So where'd your partner in crime disappear to?"

"What do you mean? She's right -" I looked around and realized Sam was indeed gone. "Dammit."

"She probably went to go continue her game of tonsil hockey with Rodney."

"Thank you for that visual image. As if it wasn't disturbing enough the first time."

He laughed. "Come on. Let's see what the others are up to." We maneuvered our way through the throngs to what would be a dining room any other day of the year. Tonight, however, the table and chairs had been replaced by an elaborately decorated beer pong table. We found Brian and Dan talking to a few new brothers in the corner.

"Hey guys. Either of you interested in playing?" Brian asked as we sauntered towards the group.

"Hell yeah!" I piped up.

"Yo! Hamilton! We got winner!" he shouted over the noise to a tall raven-haired kid at the other end. The boy acknowledged this with a quick nod of the head before he sent a ping pong ball sailing across the room into the last remaining cup.

"Shit!" A voice screeched from behind us as one of the upperclassman girls watched the ball bob in her beer.

"Drink up, ladies!" Hamilton said as he and his partner shoved the 2 remaining cups on their side at their two female competitors.

"You ready for this?" Brian looked at me questioningly.

"Let's do this." I shoved him out of the way and took my place as the end of the table.

We ended up doing rather well. After winning the first game by a single shot, Arnold and Dan decided to take a turn. Brian and I managed to defeat them with ease, leaving them to chug the 4 beers left behind. On the third round, however, both Brian and I were starting to feel the effects of the alcohol and we lost hopelessly with 6 cups remaining on the table. After downing my portion, I decided to meander around a bit. I managed to find Arnold sitting in a La-Z-Boy in the living room having an animated discussion with a tall skinny guy and his equally wispy girlfriend.

"Pataki! Question for you!" the boy yelled as he gestured for me to come join them.

I popped a squat on the arm of the recliner and faced the couple on the couch. "OK, Joe. Shoot."

"Who has the better film franchise: Marvel or DC Comics?"

"Easy. Marvel."

"That's what I said," Arnold chimed in.

Joe furrowed his eyebrows, obviously miffed. "Are you two crazy? How could you consider Marvel better than DC?"

"Ummm…Hello? Have you seen the X-Men trilogy?" I retorted.

"And have **you** seen The Dark Knight?"

"You can't base a FRANCHISE on ONE movie! What about Blade, Spiderman, and the Fantastic Four? DC's only been able to stay afloat because they keep remaking Batman and Superman movies over and over," I argued.

My final comment hit a nerve. He flung up his arms in distaste as he stood up. "Fuck this! I need another drink. You want one too, baby?"

The slender girl also got to her feet. "Yeah but I'm coming with you. The last one you got me tasted like crap."

As the two of them took off in search of more booze, Arnold turned to face me. "I didn't know you were into comics."

I snickered. "I'm not. I overheard him ask Dan the same question earlier. It's just funny to see Joe so pissed off. Besides, that's what he gets for calling WrestleMania a bunch of guys dressed in ladies' lingerie playing grab ass."

"You're evil."

"And you're just now figuring this out?"

He smirked before making a motion to get up. "You want a real seat? I'll move."

I waved him off. "Don't worry about it, Football Head. If I need more room, I'll just take the futon."

"How about a compromise? You could sit with me," he said coyly.

"And risk the chance of catching whatever diseases you may have? No thanks." I tried to stand up but found myself being dragged back down by a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. I fell back into Arnold's lap.

"Whoops. Looks like you're doomed now," he chuckled with a dopey grin on his face.

A rare girlish giggle escaped me as I shrugged. "Could be worse."

He cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "Is that so?"

I felt my cheeks go pink. _OK. You're cut off for the rest of the night._ I cleared my throat and attempted to change the subject."Ummm…By the way, I forgot to say it earlier but thanks for dinner. You really didn't have to do that."

He pulled me into him tighter. "I know. But I wanted to. Someone as amazing as you deserves it." _Amazing? _I turned to avoid his gaze.

"Don't say shit like that," I whispered.

"Why not? It's the truth." He placed a hand under my chin and gently tilted it until my eyes met his gaze. His face read of complete sincerity. "You're an incredible person, Helga," he murmured. I stared at him. Our lips were mere inches apart. _It would be so easy to kiss him right now..._

"Arnold?" I said breathily.

"Yeah, Helga?"

"You wanna get out of here?"

That beautiful lop-sided grin split his face. "I thought you'd never ask."

I gently got to my feet. "Let me go flag down Sam and make sure she's OK first."

"Last I saw her, she was playing poker in the basement."

"Got it. Meet you on the back patio in five."

I took off for the cellar stairs. As I descended, one thought kept pounding into my brain. _Tell him. Tell him. Tell him. _I reached the bottom and peered around the room. "Hey, have any of you guys seen Sam?"

A random voice floated through the air. "She went for refills."

I climbed the steps and made my way back towards the living room to let Arnold know it'd take a few minutes longer to find her. As I turned the corner, I caught a glimpse of spiked blonde hair in the far recesses of the room. As I got closer, I realized Arnold wasn't alone. There, dressed in a bright green tube top, a black miniskirt the size of a napkin, and thigh high vinyl boots, was Colleen. I watched as she beckoned him closer with one curl of her finger. He leaned down towards her. As he did so, she got on her tiptoes to reach him. Their mouths collided in a passionate kiss. I looked away as I felt my heart shatter and go cold. Instantly, I spun on my heels and tried to slink my way into the kitchen as quickly as possible, making a beeline straight for where I thought Sam would be. I found her as she was pulling another wine cooler from the fridge. When I caught hold of her elbow, she jumped.

"Oh heeeeeyyyyyy, Hellllllllggggaaaaa," she slurred when it finally clicked who I was.

"Sam, how wasted are you?" I said, closely eyeing her up and down to determine her true lack of sobriety.

"I'm feelin' pret-tay good. You?"

I frowned. "I've been better."

"Uh oh. What happened now?"

"I don't really wanna talk about it. I just came by to let you know I'm going back to the dorms."

"Is Shortman going with you?"

"No," I growled.

Her mouth contorted in concern. "But he always walks you back."

I felt another piece of my heart tear apart. "Yeah well, not tonight. He seems to be a little 'pre-occupied'. Look, are you gonna be OK without me?"

"Don't worry about me. Rodney's around here somewhere. He'll find me eventually. Especially since he'll need this." She plunged her hand inside her cleavage and produced a key.

I shook my head. "You're so classy, Sam."

"And you're sexy." She rearranged the object back into her bosom and then embraced me. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm here if you need me."

Even though I hated being hugged, I allowed myself to drop my guard and accept this brief instance of emotional contact. I squeezed her back. "Thanks, Sam."

"No problemo. Now be careful."

"OK OK. Sheesh."

I booked it for the patio doors, trying to avoid being noticed. I nearly made it. But as I reached the edge of the lawn, I heard someone calling my name behind me. I sped up but it wasn't enough to outpace Arnold.

"Hey! Where are you running off to in such a hurry?" he asked playfully.

"Home." My tone was like steel, thoroughly throwing him for a loop.

The smile vanished from his face. "Helga, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Arnold. Just go back and enjoy the party. I'm fully capable of walking back by myself." I kept going but so did he. When I reached the main drag of town, Arnold was still at my side. "You're not going to leave, are you?"

"Nope."

I sighed in defeat. "Whatever."

We were silent as we walked. I was too wrapped up in my own fury for conversation. I couldn't tell who to be more pissed at: him for lying or myself for trusting him. _What the hell is wrong with you? You should have known better than this! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Stupid for getting carried away. Stupid for thinking he'd maybe ever actually like you. Stupid for believing him. Humph. Never in a million years', my ass!__ What other BS has he been feeding you? Ugh. Douche bag. Wait until Phoebe gets a load of this shit. It shouldn't be too late to give her a buzz. Tall Hair Boy will just have to suck it up and - _A sudden realization hit me. I slammed my palm into my forehead. "Fuck."

The abruptness of my exclamation startled him. "What?"

"I forgot to grab my hoodie."

He shrugged. "So? Just pick it up tomorrow."

I rolled my eyes. "My keys and ID were in there, genius. I can't get into the building."

"Couldn't you borrow Sam's?"

"Yeah. But she left all her stuff at the house."

"Then let's go. It's shorter than heading all the way back to the party."

We turned and started heading East. Unfortunately, this was also in the same direction that the night wind was blowing. At one point, a particularly sharp gust rushed past us, causing me to shiver violently. Arnold had obviously seen this as he immediately took off his flannel. "Here," he said as he handed it to me.

I shook my head while gripping my arms tightly to my frame. "I'm fine."

"Take it." He gingerly wrapped the shirt around my shoulders.

My anger softened at the gesture. _At least he does seem to genuinely care. _"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Before long, we were again making small talk as we climbed the porch steps. Arnold dug into his jeans pocket, extracting his keys. He unlocked the door and held it open. "After you," he said with a small encouraging smile. I walked inside. We wound our way through the empty house and up the stairs. At the top, we split off down opposite hallways. When I approached Rodney's bedroom, I cringed. The door had been left was wide open and I could see the pile of dirty clothes (including underwear) stacked waist high in the corner. I stepped inside and painstakingly picked my way through, cautious to avoid the debris littering the floor. I found Sam's purse lying on the bed and quickly rummaged through it. After finding what I needed, I grabbed a random scrap of paper from a table laden with Mountain Dew and Red Bull cans and scribbled a note. _Reynolds - Left keys and ID at party. Borrowed yours. Helga._ As I made my way back across the minefield, Arnold was waiting for me outside the door. "Find what you needed?"

"Barely." I started to head back downstairs.

"Helga?"

Against my better judgment, I stopped. "What, Football Head?"

He absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair. "It's still early. I was kinda hoping you'd wanna stick around and do our normal thing."

I shook my head. "I'm not really in the mood."

"Come on, Helga. Please?" he pleaded. Even though I was still upset, I wavered at the look on his face. _God dammit. Every fucking time. _I weakly nodded. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall and into his room. As always, his small abode was meticulously clean. Next to the door, his notebooks and textbooks were neatly stacked on the desk beside his laptop. The bookcase on the opposite wall was filled with carefully arranged CDs, DVDs, pictures, and other trinkets. A freshly made bed sat along the back and across from it, on top of a dust-free dresser, was a 27" flat screen TV and DVD player. I spun his desk chair around and plopped into it, kicking my feet up on the corner of the desk as he started perusing his bookshelves. "I hope you don't mind but I already had something to watch in mind." He frowned and furrowed his eyebrows. "Hmm...I must have left it in the living room. I'll be right back." He slipped out the door.

I sat there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Sure, I'd been in his bedroom plenty of times before but never alone. To distract myself, I turned my attention to the bookcase. I started glancing through the pictures. There were a few people I vaguely recognized. One showed Arnold standing next to a tall African American boy, both dressed in cap and gown. I knew in an instant that it had to be Gerald. Another was a prom photo. Arnold looked quite dapper in his tuxedo and slicked-back hair and he had his arms wrapped around Lila's curvy waist. The last two sat on the shelf at eye level. One was of Phil and Gertie. It had also been taken on graduation day, as Arnold stood between them in shirt and tie with a diploma in his hand. The final photo was old and faded. I pulled the picture off the shelf to get a closer look. It showed a tall, shaggy haired blonde man with a cleft chin. He was smiling and had his right arm in a sling. His left arm was wrapped around the shoulders of a laughing brunette woman with a football shaped head. They appeared to be in a remote tropic location and looked incredible happy.

"Please be careful with that. It's one of the few pictures I have of them." I whirled around to be met with brooding green eyes. My breath caught in my throat.

"Arnold! I-I'm sorry!"

"For what?"

"For snooping through your things."

"It's hardly snooping if it's out in the open," he said, gently taking the photo from my hands. Stillness filled the air as we both looked at the picture. His face tensed the longer he stared at it. We continued to gaze silently at the photo for several seconds longer before he quietly whispered, "Helga, do you know why I went to San Lorenzo that summer?"

"Phoebe said something about you visiting the university to see if you wanted to go there for school."

"Not quite." He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, eyes locked on the picture frame still in his hands. I watched him closely. He seemed tired and lost in thought, as if the weight of the world currently rested on his shoulders. I sat down as delicately as possible next to him, trying not to break his concentration. He tore his gaze away long enough to thoroughly study my face before focusing again on the photo. When he spoke, his voice was slightly shaking. "I went to go find them." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I found my dad's journal in the fourth grade. It detailed everything. The first time he saw my mother. The day they were married. The day I was born. All the way up through the night they left for the final time. It also contained a map with all the locations my parents had traveled during their time in San Lorenzo. Ever since then, I wanted nothing more than to follow it and finally find out what happened to them. For years, I tried to get in contact with anyone that knew anything about their last trip. I finally managed to reach out to my dad's college buddy Eduardo during junior year. He was still in San Lorenzo, studying a tribe called the Green-Eyed People. As soon as he told me he was still there and still doing the research my parents had been involved in, I knew I had to go. I made plans that summer. When I got there, I met up with Eduardo and we followed the same trails they had. We spent months desperately searching for any clues as to their whereabouts. The last week I was there, we finally found something."

He suddenly stopped. I placed my hand on his knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Take your time."

"We had stumbled upon the Green-Eyed People themselves. Initially, they were extremely cautious. But when I started showing them the picture and trying to explain who I was, they welcomed us with open arms. I started to question them as best I could for any information they had. For the first few days, they refused to tell me anything. The fifth day, I was taken to the chief who, I learned, spoke some English. I told him I wanted to know what happened to my parents. He explained that they had gone out into the jungle to gather ingredients for a serum to cure a disease which was slowly killing off the tribe. After several days, when they hadn't come back, several tribesmen went out to look for them. They followed a path all the way to a river. The Green-Eyes found their backpacks and tent, completely slashed and torn. There were footprints that led into the heart of the jungle but, after a few feet, the trail went cold. The Green-Eyes left things as they were in the hopes that my parents would come back but they never did. The tribe took me to the spot where everything had once been. It had been so long that the only things left were the metal tent poles and the frames of their rucksacks. The next day, I was on my way back to Hillwood."

My heart ached for him. "So you still don't know what happened to them?"

"No," he said glumly.

"Then maybe they're still out there."

He sighed. "Helga, I've already accepted the fact that they're gone. It took me a while but I've come to terms with it."

"Is that why you don't wear your hat anymore?"

He stared at me. "How did you -"

"Didn't think I'd notice? Come on. You hardly ever took it off. And when you did, you always carried it with you. I figured there had to have been some sort of sentimental value to it. I just didn't know **how** sentimental." We both reflected on this thought for a moment longer before I asked the obvious question. "You still have it?"

"Of course."

He got up and headed back towards the bookshelf. After cautiously replacing the frame back on the shelf, he pulled a small object from the same vicinity. He walked back over to the bed and handed it to me. It had definitely seen better days. The brim was beginning to fray and it was sun-bleached from years of wear but I knew that little blue hat from anywhere. I turned the tiny cap over a few times in my hands before placing it on top of his head. "You should start wearing it again."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. It's kind of like a nice little reminder of how proud they'd be of you and the extraordinary person you've become." His eyes met mine, green orbs studying me, piercing straight into my soul. He smiled. I blushed profusely. I felt him take my hand in his. We continued to gaze into each other's eyes until I started to become flustered. "OK. Enough with the mushy stuff already. What're we watching?"

"Oh. Right!" he said, snapping back to reality. He stood back up and retrieved the DVD case he had dropped on his desk. He popped the movie into the player and clicked on the TV. "I figured you might enjoy this."

I scooted over towards the wall to make room for him again as he sat back down and stretched out on the bed. Within seconds of it starting, I knew what was playing. "Well well well. The Princess Bride. Looks like you figured it out."

"The Internet's a wonderful thing." We laid there contentedly, side by side for another moment before Arnold spoke again. "Helga?"

"Yes, Football Head?"

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

By the time the ending credits began to roll, we were completely entwined with one another. Arnold was stretched out on his back, one arm behind his head to prop himself up enough to see the screen. The other was wrapped around my back, his hand resting gently on my hip. I was turned into his side, one leg draped over his. My arms were still wrapped around his waist and my head rested on his chest. "So what'd you think?" I asked lazily.

"You want my honest opinion?"

"Duh."

"It was kind of corny…But I liked it."

I removed an arm and propped myself up on an elbow to look at him. "See? My tastes aren't that bad."

He chuckled. "I never said they were. They're just different."

"The same could be said for you. I mean, you're one of the few people on Earth that actually enjoyed Star Wars Episode 1."

"I resent that." He poked me in the side.

I jerked. "Don't do that!"

"Why not?" He poked and I twitched again. "You're not ticklish, are you?"

"No! Of course not! Hey!" He began to tickle my ribs. I squirmed, shrieking with laughter. "Cut it out, Football Head!" I tried to get up but he managed to pull me back down. "I swear, Arnold, if you don't stop, I'm going to make you pay." I gasped between laughing fits.

"Oh really? I'd like to see you try." It was only then that I realized how precariously close we were. He was kneeling between my legs and resting his broad frame over me on one of his sinewy arms. His other hand was lightly clasped around the curve of my waist. A few strands of his golden locks hung in his face. I flushed, the wet hot heat beginning to pool in between my thighs. _Oh God._ We stayed that way for a moment before he started to move again. Slowly, he began to lean down. Closer...and closer…His lips hovered just above mine. The thought of those lips pressed against those of a bleach-bottle blonde tramp flashed through my head. _Wake_ _the fuck up, you idiot!_

"Get off me!" I screamed in his face. He froze, momentarily stunned. I managed to wrestle myself free and shoved him back.

"Helga, I –"

"Leave me alone!" I flew off the bed and quickly slid into my shoes before I started running for the door. I could hear his footsteps chasing behind me as I took off down the stairs. He caught up with me just as we reached the bottom, grabbing my hand and turning me around.

"Helga, please –"

"Look, bucko. I don't know what the fuck kind of game you're playing but I will **NOT** be a part of it!" I hissed.

"Ahem…"

We both froze as we realized as over a dozen pairs of eyes were on us. I wrenched my hand free of his grip and silently tore out of the house. I booked it back to the dorm as fast as I could, tears streaming down my face. _I really am a moron._ I managed to get my dorm room door open and fling myself on my bed before I started to bawl.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello again! Sorry for the super short chapter but I wanted to get this out instead of lumping it in with the next one which, by the way it's shaping up, will be another long one. As always, all reviews and follows are appreciated. Thanks!**

**Note: I do not own HA! nor any music/movies/TV shows, etc I may have mentioned.**

**PS - For those that are curious, the song "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot" is done by a band called Brand New. I suggest reading through the lyrics if you don't already know them. It'll give you a better picture of what I was going for for Helga's mindset at that moment.**

* * *

I awoke at the click of a key in the door. I glanced over at the clock. 3:30am. I hadn't realized I had managed to cry myself to sleep. I buried my face further into the pillow, still pissed at my own stupidity. I detected the sound of the doorknob turning, the hinges creaking open and closed, and the series of clicks of the lock being flipped back into place. "Helga?" Sam quietly whispered, "You awake?" I groaned and rolled over to look at her. She took a seat on the edge of the bed, not even bothering to turn on the lights. "Honey, what the hell happened over there?" she said in pure shock.

"Where do I even begin?" I proceeded to fill her in on the details. Sam listened to every word, stone-faced but with a vague sense of pity in her eyes. At the end, she sat there quietly taking in everything I had told her before finally breaking her silence.

"So, let me get this straight. One minute, he's hooking up with Colleen the Cock Tease Queen. The next, he's trying to put the moves on you?"

"Yeah. Pretty much." I said forlornly.

"Wow. I never pictured Arnold to be that kind of guy."

"Neither did I."

Without warning, Sam sprang from the mattress and began frantically pacing in front of me. "What a dick! I mean, seriously! Seriously! What kind of asshole does that?! I'm totally gonna kick that kid's ass!"

"Sam, don't."

"Why not?! He deserves it!"

My anger briefly flared. "Just don't, OK?" I twisted away to face the wall. I could sense her standing there, staring at my back but I didn't bother moving again.

"There's something you're not telling me."

"No there isn't."

"Yes there is."

"**No**, there isn't," I insisted, my already frazzled nerves wearing down to the bits.

She wouldn't let up. "**Yes**, there is."

I'd had it. I flung myself into a sitting position. "**NO! THERE! ISN'T!**" I screamed.

"**YES! THERE! IS!**" she shouted right back.

"What, Sam?! What do you want me to say?! That, as much as I hate his guts right now, I don't want you to touch him because I'm in love with him?!" _Oh fuck._ I immediately realized my mistake and slammed my mouth shut, simultaneously curling myself into as small of a ball as physically possible. An overwhelming hush fell over the both of us, my statement falling heavy around us. Sam stared at me for a moment before softly retaking her seat. When she finally found her voice again, it was faint yet gentle.

"Are you?"

I couldn't look her in the face. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Pataki." She glared at me, making it painfully clear that she saw through my bullshit.

I sighed. "All right. Fine. Yes. I love him. I'm completely gaga, head-over-heels, can't-live-another-day-without-him in love with Arnold Shortman. There. I said it. Satisfied?"

"Oh sweetie. That explains so much." She lightly patted my arm. "Why didn't you just tell me in the first place?"

"As if you didn't ridicule me about it enough already."

She shook her head. "Helga, I made jokes before because I thought you honestly didn't like him like that. If I'd have known, it would have been a completely different story. Hell, I would have helped you land him if I could've."

My stomach plummeted. I pressed the palms of my hand hard into my eye sockets. "Ugh. I feel like such a tool."

"So can I ask you something without you biting my head?"

"Go for it."

"Does he know?"

"Possibly," I murmured.

Her look changed to one of perplexity. "What do you mean 'possibly'? He either does or he doesn't. There's really no in-between."

"I may have already bared my soul to him once when we were nine. I'm pretty sure, though, based on the way he's been acting, he doesn't remember anything about it."

"Hon," she said coaxingly, "you need to tell him the truth."

"It's not that easy, Sam. I already put myself out there once. I don't think I can do it again. Especially not after what I saw going on between him and Colleen."

"Well, what are you going to do then?"

"I don't know. I really don't."

She slid her hand over mine. "Just promise me that you'll go talk to him."

"Right now, I can't," I stated miserably.

Sam gave my hand a small squeeze before she stood back up. "OK. I won't force you to. But, remember, even if he fucked up, which he definitely did, that doesn't negate the fact that he's still your friend and that, deep down, he never had any intention of hurting you."

I laid back down, hiding my face beneath the covers as a new tears began trailing down my face. "I know," I whispered. "But he did."

It'd been nearly three weeks since the blow-up at the house and I had yet to utter a single word to Arnold. During the first few days following the incident, I received a flurry of messages, texts, and emails from him, begging me to hear him out. By the second week, the number and frequency of his contact attempts had diminished but he was still desperate for any sort of response. However, as of this past Wednesday, he'd ceased trying to reach me. I felt like I was dying inside. It wasn't that I was intentionally ignoring him. Yes, I still upset. But it was more that I was at a loss on what to do or even say. Many nights I ended up spending hours lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling and trying to figure out my next move. Unfortunately, this whole fiasco started taking its toll on me. Because I wasn't sleeping at night, I was nodding off in class. And my grades suffered for it. Granted, I was still managing to pass all my classes but several were purely by the skin of my teeth. With that being the case, I knew I really should have been spending that Saturday afternoon studying but I was in no mood to do so. Instead, there I was, once again lying in bed, lost in thought, listening to my iPod on its stereo dock. As the song synched up again for what had to have been the tenth time, Sam finally snapped.

"I swear to God, Pataki, if I have to hear 'The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot' one more fucking time, I am going to hurl that mp3 play of yours right out the fucking window!"

I flipped to the other end of the bed so I could see her at her desk. "I thought you liked this song, Sam."

"I do but not when it's on rotation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for nearly a month straight!" she spat out through gritted teeth.

"Sorry. I'll turn it off."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "No. Go ahead and leave it on. I just wish you weren't so damn mopey all the time anymore."

"I'm not moping."

"And pigs can fly." She spun her chair around to face me. "Helga, why haven't you talked to him?"

"What would I even say?"

"How about 'Hi' for starters?" Sam sighed. "Look. Phoebe and I both agree that you're doing more damage by avoiding Arnold than if you just sat down and told him how you feel."

I scowled. "Glad to know that you two have been talking behind my back."

"Don't be like that, Pataki. You know we're just trying to figure out how to help."

"I know. But this is my problem and I need to be the one to deal with it. And right now, I don't know how."

She shook her head in frustration. She turned back to her laptop and futzed around on it several minutes longer before she spoke again. "Jump online. Brian wants to talk to you."

_Great. Just what I need: someone else putting their two cents in._ Reluctantly, I got up and plunked down next to Sam. I re-activated my laptop and logged into Facebook.

**Brian McCormick:** Hey.

**Helga Pataki:** Hi.

**Brian McCormick:** How's it goin?

**Helga Pataki: **OK. You?

**Brian McCormick:** Hangin in there. Haven't seen you around here much lately.

**Helga Pataki:** Yeah, well, you can probably guess why.

**Brian McCormick:** Yeah, I heard you flipped out on Shortman. Don't know why though.

_Oh here we go._ I furiously typed out a response.

**Helga Pataki:** If you're digging for answers for him, no dice, bucko.

**Brian McCormick:** Actually, I'm not. I had something else I wanted to discuss with you.

I was leery of his response but also somewhat intrigued.

**Helga Pataki:** Go on.

**Brian McCormick:** Well, you see, Formals are next weekend and we're allowed to bring a guest. I was thinking maybe you and I could go together.

_Huh?_

**Helga Pataki:** Are you asking me to be your date?

**Brian McCormick:** I am.

I was absolutely blown away. "Is he fucking nuts?"

"What?" Sam asked, not taking her eyes off her own screen.

"Brian just asked me to Formals."

She stopped what she was doing to glance at me, eyebrows raised. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Are you gonna go?"

I thought carefully. "I don't know. I'm more intrigued to know why he's inviting me of all people."

"Then ask him."

**Helga Pataki:** Why me?

**Brian McCormick:** You're a cool ass chick. You're smart, funny, and entertaining as hell. I figured, if anything, we'd be able to make it a night to remember. Or forget, depending on how much booze we can sneak into the hotel.

_Does he think he's gonna get laid or something?_ Before I could come back with a retort, a new message popped up.

**Brian McCormick: **And, no, I didn't mean that to read like I'm gonna get you hammered and try to get into your pants. As far as I'm concerned you're just another one of the guys except with a pair of tits.

I smirked at his remark.

**Helga Pataki:** You forgot to include 'vagina' in there as well. Haha.

**Brian McCormick: **HAHA. Yeah. That too. ;)

"So? What'd he say?" Sam inquired.

"He's basically looking for a party pal."

"Does that mean you're gonna accept?"

I hesitated. "Would it be a bad thing if I did?"

She shrugged. "Not necessarily. Personally, I think you could use a little fun."

I smiled. _I agree. _

**Helga Pataki:** OK. You've got yourself a date. :)

I had already typed out my response when Sam piped up again. "You do realize the awkward position you've put yourself in, right?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, absolutely baffled.

"Not only will Shortman be there but he'll probably be bringing Colleen with him."

In the heat of the moment, I had altogether forgotten about the dilemma at hand. "Shit."

"Looks like you'll be dealing with that little problem of yours sooner than you wanted."


	9. Chapter 9

**Hiya boys and girls! Thanks for the reviews and subscriptions. I know you've all been waiting patiently for the next chapter and I can proudly say "It's here!". I consider this the coup de grace which means, yes, I have finally brought out the smut I promised. ;) So go, read! I know you want to. Haha! On a side note, I think this story will be wrapped up in only another chapter or two. I'm playing around with the idea of continuing the story line, just jumping a few years ahead to Arnold and Helga's senior year. If you have a preference on what you'd like to read, please state so in your comments and I'll take them into consideration :) Thanks again everyone!**

**Note: I do not own Hey Arnold! nor any other TV shows/movie/music/product/etc mentioned below. Specifically****, the lyrics used are to the song "Inevitable" which was written and performed by Anberlin. (Yes, I got a little song fic-y but I felt like the words were so powerful and rang so true here that they needed to be included.)**

* * *

"Is it too late to back out?"

"Finish packing, Pataki."

Ever since Sam pointed out the predicament I had unknowingly forced upon myself, I had been regretting my decision of saying 'yes' to Brian's offer. All week, I had been searching for a good reason to recant my answer. Needing to study, didn't have the money to pay my share, didn't own a dress, etc. Hell, I was even half tempted to tell him that I had to go home and see Miriam that weekend. I came up with a million excuses. But I couldn't bring myself to cancel. I knew it wasn't right to screw Brian over simply because I didn't feel like facing up to my own issues. So, here it was, the first Saturday in May, and I was stuffing my things into an overnight bag at the last minute as an overpowering sense of dread gnawed at my insides. Sam, who was well aware that I was on the edge of a full-blown panic attack, wasn't about to let me chicken out and had stuck around that afternoon to make sure I was ready to go on time.

"OK. I think that's it." I said as I zipped my duffel bag closed.

Sam dropped from her bunk and onto the floor. "You remember your toothbrush?"

"Yes, mother."

She grinned. "Excellent. Now we can get this show on the road." She picked up her own packed gym bag off the ground. As I collected the rest of my things, she lightly placed a hand on my shoulder. "Relax, hon. Try to have a good time tonight."

"That's easy for you to say," I mumbled as I locked and shut the door behind us. We made our way into the parking lot and climbed into my gold Pontiac Grand Prix. After much debate between the four of us, I was voted chauffer. I was perfectly fine with this decision, figuring that I could tune everything else out to focus on quote, unquote 'driving'. As we pulled out and made our way towards Theta Zeta Chi, my mind already started to wander. _Maybe you'll luck out. Maybe Arnold won't be there. _I knew it was only the slimmest of chances but I was somewhat soothed by clinging on to that last shred of hope. _Yeah. Maybe he went home instead and you're worrying yourself silly over nothing._ I brightened at the possibility as we drove up to the house where Brian and Rodney were waiting for us on the porch.

"Hello ladies," Rodney said as he slid into the back beside Sam.

"Hey Rodney. Hiya Brian," I replied as Brian hopped into the passenger seat.

Brian brightly smiled. "Hey Helga. You ready to have some fun?"

"I think so."

"Then what the hell are we waiting for, Pataki?" Sam yelled behind me. "Let's go!"

As I hastily threw the car into 'Drive', speeding down the alleyway and onto the main road, Rodney piped up. "You got any tunes in this death trap of yours?"

"There should be a CD case rolling around somewhere back there." I felt some jostling as Sam and Rodney dug around under the seats.

"Found it!" Sam exclaimed. I heard her flip through a few sleeves. "Oooooo! We're putting this one on!" She stretched over the center console between Brian and I to reach the stereo and popped in a blue and silver disc. As the opening licks of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came pouring out of the speakers, I leaned back in my seat. _Please don't let this be a disaster._

* * *

"What do you mean you only have singles left? We had a whole block of doubles reserved!" Brian said frustratedly.

We were standing around the small lobby of our hotel attempting to check into our rooms after completing what had been a rather enjoyable hour drive.

"I'm sorry, sir, but that block has been filled and, as a whole, we're almost entirely sold out," the concierge replied. "However, we do have one single left on the first floor where the rest of your party is staying as well as one other room on the third floor."

I frowned. _Well this is going to be uncomfortable._ As nice as Brian was, I didn't really know the kid. And now I was expected to split a bed with him. I figured he'd be smart enough not to pull anything but I still wasn't thrilled with the idea.

"No biggie," Sam chirped. "Helga and I will take the one on the third floor. You guys can have the other."

Rodney promptly began to protest. "But, babe! I thought you and I were gonna get some special 'alone time' tonight."

"Oh sweetie, let's be realistic. We both know that won't happen. You're gonna get so wasted at the after-party, you'll end up passed out on the floor somewhere."

"No I won't!"

Sam smirked. "That's what you said at Prom last year. And do you remember what happened?" Rodney mumbled something under his breath. "What'd you say, honey? I couldn't hear you."

"I woke up naked in Eddie's motel room bathtub."

"Exactly." She lightly patted his cheek. "So you enjoy the evening with your brothers and we'll have our 'alone time' when we get back."

I turned to Brian. "You OK with this?"

"Yeah. Whatever you girls wanna do works for me."

"That settles it then," Sam remarked as the concierge handed her our room key cards.

"All right, gentlemen. You'll be in Room 117, which is in the middle of the hall on your lefthand side. And Ladies, you will be in Room 339, all the way at the end of the hall. Please let me know if you have any questions or need anything else."

"Thanks. Come on, Helga." Sam grabbed her bag and motioned for me to follow.

As we got into the elevators, I looked at her. "You know, you didn't have stay with me, right? I could have shared with Bri."

"I know. But I figured maybe you might want somewhere you could go and get some peace and quiet if you needed it."

_Damn, she understands me better than I thought._ We rode the two floors up in silence. As we stepped off the elevator, we made a left and trekked through the corridor to the very last room on the righthand side. Sam slid the key card into the lock, waiting for the green light to appear before throwing open the door and walking inside.

The room was like that of any other generic hotel chain's. Immediately to the right was a tiny bathroom with a vanity station, toilet, and shower/tub combo. Further in, a sprawling king-sized bed flanked by night stands sat opposite a chest of drawers with a mirror and a TV set on top of a dresser. Sam swiftly tossed her belongings into a chair next to the window and flopped onto the bed. I threw mine down as well and joined her. She snatched up the remote off her side table and flicked the boob tube on, channel surfing for several minutes until she caught a glimpse of Johnny Depp's handsome mug.

"Pirates of the Caribbean. Nice."

"Which one?"

"Curse of the Black Pearl." We watched the scene unfold until a commercial break came on. At that, Sam got up. "Guess we better start getting ready." She began rifling through her bag, pulling out her dress, flat iron, and makeup case. After plugging the flat iron into a nearby outlet, she proceeded to dump the contents of her cosmetic kit onto the matress. Along with her assortment of eyeshadows and lipsticks, out spilled a half dozen gold-wrapped condoms.

"Geez, Sam. What were you planning on doing with all those? Having an all-night orgy or something?"

She snickered. "Hey! It doesn't hurt to be well equipped. You never know when or how often the mood may strike."

I rolled my eyes. _Nympho. _"So what time does everything start?"

"Dinner's at 7:30pm. Awards are around 8:30pm and everything wraps up by 9pm. But we've got the ballroom until midnight so people'll likely stick around 'til then. That leaves us…" she glanced at her watch, "about 45 minutes."

I scooted off the bed. "You need the shower?"

"Nope. Did it before we left."

I rummaged through my stuff and withdrew my shampoo and conditioner as well as a tiny black thong before disappearing into the bathroom.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, when I re-entered the bedroom, hair and body wrapped in towels, I found Sam sitting there, patiently waiting for me. She grinned, patting an empty spot across from her. "Pop a squat." I slowly took a seat, careful to make sure I didn't unintentionally flash her. Her expression changed to one of sheer earnestness. "So. I've been thinking. How would you feel about letting me do your hair and makeup?"

I was perplexed by her question. "Why?"

She shrugged. "Because it's a special occasion."

"What about you? Don't you still have to finish yours?"

"Already taken care of." I inspected her appearance. She had indeed managed to do her hair as well as expertly apply foundation, a layer of shimmery beige eye shadow, and black eyeliner in the time I was gone. I hesitated. She read into my doubts instantly. "It'll be tasteful. I promise."

"Well…"

"Please?" she pleaded.

Like a fool, I fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. "Oh all right. Just this once."

"Yes!" she cheered as she bounced up and down. "I've got the perfect idea!"

A half hour later, I was staring at my reflection in the dresser mirror, wondering what the hell happened to my face. "I look like a fucking raccoon."

"You do not! You look pretty. Feminine even." Sam argued, beaming at her work. She had taken the opportunity to her full advantage and had given me a complete makeover. It was A LOT more than I was used to.

I shook my head. "Can I please wash it off?"

"Oh no, you don't! You leave it the way it is! Trust me. It'll look nice once you put the dress on." She glanced around the room. "Speaking of which, where is it?"

"In my duffel."

She burrowed into my bag, extracting the attire I had chosen, and handed it to me. "OK. You slip into yours, I'll squeeze into mine. We finish up some last minute touches and then we go meet the guys."

I stepped back into the bathroom and shed the towel still draped around myself. I shimmied into the gown and walked out. "Sam, would you mind zipping me up?"

"Sure. As long as you return the favor." I faced away, back towards her. "OK. Suck it in a little. There. Got it."

I turned to look in the mirror. _Woah._ Of course, once again, Sam, in all her infinite wisdom, was right. The smoky eye effect she had done on my lids perfectly complimented the plain, spaghetti-strapped black mini and black peep-toe heels I had on while making the crystal blue of my eyes pop. As for my hair, she had simply blown it dry, leaving my natural waves cascading over my back.

"See?" she said as she watched me take myself in. "What'd I tell ya?"

"You win."

She smirked. "You're welcome." She lightly punched me in the arm. "My turn."

"Oh. Yeah." I momentarily fumbled with the zipper on her apparel before it slid right up. "Done."

She gave herself a quick once over, twirling and flaring out her turquoise halter-topped handkerchief-hemmed dress. "Rodney's eyes are gonna bug out of his head when he sees me in this." She turned back to the pile of cosmetics on the bed. "So lipstick, then shoes, then purse, then on our way we go." She grabbed a tube as she started shoving everything into the nightstand drawer and tossed it to me. "Try that one. It should be just enough."

I twisted off the cap to reveal a frosty pink shade of lipstick. I lightly swiped it across my lips. As Sam slipped into nude pumps, I went back into my overnight bag for my jewelry. "FYI," I called over my shoulder. "I'm not bringing a purse of anything so you mind carrying the keys?"

She tapped her purse. "Already got 'em." I finished clasping my necklace and jammed my feet into my heels. We both took one last look at ourselves. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Good." As we exited the room into the hallway, Sam stuck her elbow out to the side. "Would madam do me the honor of accompanying me?"

"'Madam'? Who you callin' 'madam'?" I snorted as I linked my arm with hers.

* * *

**KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!**

"Who is it?" someone bellowed.

"Housekeeping!" Sam shouted back.

The door gradually creaked open to reveal Rodney in a black pinstripe suit and royal blue tie. "Nice try, hon, but I could see you through the peephole."

"Dang it! Oh well. I tried."

Rodney bent down and gave Sam a soft peck on the cheek. As he stood back up, his eyes fell upon me and his mouth went agape. "Holy shit! Pataki, is that you?"

"No, I'm the Queen of England," I sniped. "Of course it's me, dumb ass. Doi!"

"Damn, girl. You clean up nice."

"Hey!" Sam said, feigning annoyance. "That was the reaction I wanted."

Rodney wrapped an arm around his girlfriend. "Babe, you always look gorgeous."

"Aww. That's so sweet!" They gazed adoringly at one another.

I decided to interrupt before things could get any more awkward. "Enough with the lovey dovey crap, you two. Are we gonna do this thing or what?"

"Yeah. Hold on." Rodney hollered into the room. "Bri! They're here."

"One sec." Brian came to the door, dressed in a navy blue suit and red tie, beer at hand. He took one last swig of the bottle, finishing the last few drops and tossing it in the trash can inside the bathroom doorway before stepping into the hallway. "Let's roll."

As Sam and Rodney led the way, Brian and I hung back.

"Decided to start a bit early," Brian murmured somewhat sheepishly. "Hope you don't mind."

I flicked my wrist at him. "Meh. It's a free country. You can do whatever you want." We exchanged a few more casual words but as, we got closer to the ballroom, anxiety rushed in and I became quiet. A few paces ahead of the entrance, I froze, too paralyzed by what potentially lay inside. _I can't do this._

It took another step or two before Brian realized I was no longer beside him. When he did, he stopped and came back to my side. "Nervous?" he asked softly. I nodded. "Chill, Pataki. It's just dinner and a little dancing. You can go back to your jeans in a few hours."

_If only that was my primary concern._

I took a second to gather myself before I started walking again. As I was about to go through the doors, I swallowed hard, pushing the bile that was steadily rising in my throat back into my stomach. _Here goes nothing…_

Surprisingly, my world didn't seem to implode the minute I set foot in the reception. On the contrary, no one even seemed to notice we had arrived. Various groups of brothers and their dates were scattered throughout, busy talking to one another. As Brian steered us over to a table on the far right side, I kept my eyes peeled for hints of cornsilk and platinum colored hair. I managed to spot Colleen easily enough. She was standing at the bar, shamelessly canoodling with a brother I didn't recognize. However, I had yet to find Arnold. I breathed a small sigh of relief. _Whew! Guess he isn't here._ As we sat down next to Dan and his date, we exchanged pleasantries and introductions before Brian got up once more.

"I'm gonna go head over to the bar and grab a Coke. Would you like anything, Helga?"

"Umm…sure. A Sprite."

"Comin' right up." He headed off towards his destination. I turned to face Dan.

"So, Dan, how have things been with you?"

"Not too bad. Stressin' about finals. What about you?"

"Ugh. Don't get me started about classes. I'm freaking out about Bio."

Dan's date piped up. "If you're having issues with Bio, you should go talk to Arnold. He's a real wiz at anything science-related. Speaking of which, here he comes."

I whirled around in my seat. Sure enough, there he was, strolling towards us. I immediately became very interested in the carpet pattern. _Oh God. _He came to a halt directly across from me. _Fuckin' A._

"Hey Dan. Hi Jillian." He paused when he got to me. I glanced up at him, instantly kicking myself for it. He looked extraordinary in his black suit, crisp white shirt, and black tie with his hair gelled back. As he stared at me, the smile rapidly fled from his face. "Helga," he finally choked out quietly.

I nodded in acknowlegement . "Football Head."

"You…uh…you look really great tonight."

"Thanks. So do you."

Right then, Brian came back with our drinks. "Hey Shortman! What's up?" he asked as he set the glasses in front of us and shook Arnold's hand.

"Not much, Bri. Just came over to say 'hi' to everyone."

"Hey, Shortman," Dan chipped in, "where's your date?"

He flushed slightly. "I don't have one."

_Huh? _I snapped my head up in attention. "You didn't come with Colleen?"

"No," he responded flatly, "she came with one of the new guys."

At that moment, the clink of a metal on glass got everyone's attention.

"Looks like that's the signal to take our seats," Brian interjected as he pulled his chair out.

"Yeah, I guess so," Arnold mumbled. "I'll catch you later then." He glanced at me one more time before turning and heading back across the room. I watched as he took his place at the middle table nearest to the dance floor along with several other boys and Colleen.

Once everyone was seated, the President of the fraternity gave a short speech followed by dinner being served. Conversation was light during the meal, primarily revolving around last minute deadlines for projects and papers in addition to class selections for the following year. Every once in a while, I shot a look Arnold's way. While he seemed to be participating in the discussions, I could tell his mind was elsewhere. After dinner, superlative awards were announced. I laughed my ass off when Sam and Rodney were named 'Couple Most Likely To Get Busy In Every Room of the House' but cringed when Arnold was given the 'Agony Uncle' title. _For someone so good at dishing out solutions, he sure as hell knows how to make a shit ton of problems. _When everything was said and done, someone hooked up an iPod to the room's stereo system and the floor opened up for dancing. I sat out the first few upbeat songs, much to Sam's chagrin. It wasn't until the tempo slowed that I even considered getting up and moving. As luck would have it, the same thought occurred to Brian.

He pivoted around in his seat. "Care to dance?" he asked, offering me his hand.

My gaze darted back over to the middle table. Arnold and Colleen were sitting close, heads together, in hushed conversation. A twinge of pain shot through my chest. I grimaced at the feeling but composed myself and slapped on a fake grin before giving my attention back to Brian. "Let's go."

We walked out onto the floor and started to sway. As we turned round and round, I gave in to the melody and leaned my head on Brian's chest. _This is actually kind of nice…_

"Mind if I cut in?"

A chill overtook me as Brian loosened his grip. "She's all yours, Shortman."

I tried to flee but found myself firmly caught by the hand. I spun back around. "Take your hands off of me, Football Head," I spat. He pulled me into him.

"Unless you want to make a scene, I suggest you go along with this," he breathed into my ear. I scowled but quit resisting. The next song started and we fell into rhythm with the beat.

_Do you remember when we were just kids_

_And cardboard boxes took us miles from what we would miss_

_Schoolyard conversations taken to heart_

_And laughter took the place of everything we knew we were not_

_I wanna break every clock_

_The hands of time could never move again_

_We could stay in this moment (stay in this moment)_

_For the rest of our lives_

_Is it over now hey, hey, is it over now_

The more we moved, the more I found myself getting lost in the moment, the anger and hurt inside temporarily subsiding. He knew exactly what he was doing and exuded confidence with every step he made. "You still know how to dance."

His jaw tightened. "And you still know how to push my buttons."

_Amazing how life turns out the way that it does_

_We end up hurting the worst, the only ones we really love_

_I wanna break every clock_

_The hands of time could never move again_

_We could stay in this moment (stay in this moment)_

_For the rest of our lives_

_Is it over now hey, hey, is it over now_

He twirled me around and gracefully dipped me back. "We need to talk."

My shields instantly went back up. "There's nothing to discuss, Arnoldo."

"Helga, stop it. I'm done having you avoid me." He brought me back up and we were nose to nose. I stared him down and he did the same, never wavering. After several intense seconds, I finally conceded.

"Fine. But not here. Meet me by the third floor ice machine in 10. Got it?" He nodded.

_Is it over now hey, hey, is it over now_

_Is it over now hey, hey, it's not over now_

_I wanna be your last, first kiss_

_That you'll ever have (that you'll ever have)_

_I wanna be your last, first love (that you'll ever have)_

_Till you're lying here beside me with arms and eyes open wide_

_I wanna be your last, first kiss for all time_

As the song ended, we quickly broke from our embrace. The sound of applause and wolf whistles followed us as we made our way back to our separate tables. _What the fuck happened to not making a scene?_ As I plopped into my chair, I watched Arnold lean over to say something to Colleen. She looked up at him then nodded her head as she handed him his jacket and tie. He was making his way over to the exit when Sam sauntered over and re-took her seat.

"You and Shortman cut quite a rug out there."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure if there was a pool under here, he would have thrown me in again."

"What?"

"Nevermind. I'll tell ya later."

She gave a devious smile. "It appears as though you guys are talking. I assume everything's fixed?"

"No." A frown lined her face and I knew she was about to lecture me so I cut right to the chase. "Sam, I need it."

She instantly understood. "Sure thing. Gimme a sec." She dug through her purse and extracted a key card.

"Thanks," I said as she handed it to me.

"No problem. Take as long as you need." As I got up to leave, Sam grabbed my forearm. "Pataki?"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck."

I scurried out of the party room as stealthily as possible. As soon as I was out the door, I took off for the stairs. I was out of breath when I reached the top and tried to steady myself with a few deep breaths as I traipsed down the hall. I was nearly back to normal as I rounded the corner to the ice machine room. "**OOF!**" I slammed head first into another body and was knocked backwards, flat onto my ass. "Watch where you're going!"

A hand reached out to help me up. "Sorry, Helga."

I stood up and brushed myself off. "Whatever, Football Head. Not like it's the first time." I retrieved the dropped room key from the floor. "Come on. Follow me." We headed through the corridor until we were in front of #339. I keyed in and pushed the door open, kicking off my heels as Arnold took a seat at the end of the bed. I leaned back against the dresser and crossed my arms over my chest, impatient to get this over with. "You wanted to chat? Then start talking."

He started furiously rubbing the back of his neck. "Helga, I owe you an apology about what happened. I crossed some sort of boundary that I shouldn't have and I'm sorry. But I still don't understand what you meant when you said that you weren't going to be a part in the game I was playing."

I gave him the side eye. "Let me ask you something. How stupid do you think I am?"

He was stunned. "What? I don't -"

"Don't patronize me, Hair Boy. You know exactly what it means!"

"Helga, why are you so angry?"

I threw up my arms in disgust and marched back and forth in front of him. "You could have been honest me. I wouldn't have cared that you two were together. OK, that's a lie but I would have at least managed to deal with it."

"What are you talking about?"

I haulted my pacing to sneer at him. "Let me jog your memory. You. Colleen. The Going Through party. "

"The Going Through party? Nothing happened with me and Colleen at -" Comprehension dawned on him and he groaned. "Oh no."

"I thought you and I had gotten close enough to cut through the bullshit, Arnold."

"You've got it all wrong, Helga. If you'd let me explain-"

My temper flared. "I don't want an explanation! I want you to tell me the truth! Are you with Colleen or not?"

He was becoming exasperated. "How many times do I have to tell you? There is nothing going on between Collen and I."

"I've heard enough. Get out!"

"But Helga, I -"

"I said leave!" He stared at me for a moment. I shot daggers and pointed at the exit forcefully. He didn't say another word as he got up and headed for the door. But, as he grasped the handle, I saw him stiffen and stop in his tracks.

"No."

"What did you say?" I whispered, dangerously close to losing it.

His voice was steel. "I'm not leaving."

"**That's it!**" I stomped over to where he was and got in his face. "**Get! The! Fuck! Out!**" I emphasized each word with a jab to the chest. On the last jab, he grabbed my wrist. I attempted to pry his fingers loose. "Let go of me, Football Head!" Big mistake. As soon as I brought my hand up, he snagged my other wrist and managed to pin me to the wall. _Son of a bitch._

He was inches from my face and visibly pissed. "You want the truth?! **Fine!**" The next thing I knew, his lips were enveloping mine. A tingling sensation bolted straight down my spine. After a moment, Arnold pulled away, a serious look on his face. "I should have done that a long time ago." I stood there, dumbfounded for a second before smashing my mouth back into his. In his surprise, he released his grip on me.

"Hel-"

"Shut up." I clenched a handful of his shirt and yanked him into me, slipping my tongue between his parted lips. With no hesitation, he did the same. As our mouths ferociously tangled, a dull ache spread through my loins. _Easy. Take your time. _I attempted to draw back but Arnold wasn't having it. He gently pulled my lower lip between his teeth. Another rush of pleasure. He began trailing kisses down my neck, pausing at my pulse point, his warm wet mouth sucking the delicate skin. I palmed the back of his skull, coaxing him on. He continued, nipping and kissing his way to my bare shoulders. I buried my face in his hair as he brushed his lips over my clavicle and then the base of my throat. The familiar scent of his coconut shampoo wafted over me. _Just like I remembered… _My mind idly drifted back to the first time I had ever smelled it. _Second grade. Mrs. Wilson's class. _I was so entranced by this memory that I didn't even realize he had made his way back up to my jawline until he lightly tugged on my earlobe with his teeth. "Ugh! Shit!" I gasped as my hips involuntarily jerked and warmth started to soak through my panties. He paused and locked eyes with me. In that instant, his emerald gems darkened to the richest shade of forest green I had ever seen. I immediately found myself being driven further into the wall as he cupped his hands under my ass and lifted me up. Instinctively, I wrapped my limbs around his neck and hips. Every inch of his arousal pressed against me. "Oh Arnold," I softly moaned.

He closed his eyes as he throbbed at the sound of his name. "Fuck…" he muttered under his breath. With that one word, any and all reason I had left went out the window. I passionately kissed him with everything I had. When our lips broke contact, all I could manage to choke out was "Bed. **NOW**.". He didn't even bother putting me back on the floor, instead carrying me still entwined with him over to the mattress. As tenderly as possible, he laid me down before kicking off his shoes and crawling over top of me. I spread my legs to allow him to fully rest himself against me. For the second time, his mouth hungrily attacked mine. As we carried on with our heavy petting, I seductively swirled my pelvis against him. He caught on and countered my motions with his own. I shuddered and let out a throaty moan. His hands manuevered their way over my curves and jerked the hem of my dress over my hips. The sensation of his touch drove me mad. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to feel more of his flesh on my own. I frantically fumbled at the buttons on his dress shirt. He quickly realized what I was trying to do and leaned back on his haunches to take over. Teasingly, he finished unfastening his shirt to reveal a thin, white tank top. I sat up and yanked it off his shoulders, kissing the newly exposed areas. But that wasn't enough. I ran my hands up his ribcage, slipping his undershirt higher. Arnold wrenched himself free of the dress shirt, tossing it carelessly to the side. He gripped the edge of the tank, gradually pulling it over his head. My eyes roved over every bit of him. He truly was perfect. And I had him right where I had always wanted him. I placed a hand on his bare chest and playfully shoved him.

He fell backwards, confusion written across his features. I wriggled my legs free and stood up, my back towards him. I glanced alluringly over my shoulder at him. "Unzip me." I faced forward again and didn't have to wait long before I felt his lips dance across the my neck and shoulder blades as his fingers pulled the zipper on my dress. He gingerly slid the spaghetti straps off of each of my shoulders and I let the gown fall into a puddle on the floor. I turned to face him. I suddenly felt overexposed as I stood there barebreasted before him. But my selfconsciousness was forgotten when I saw the look on his face. I kicked the dress away and started to undo his belt. "Off," I whispered as I rubbed my palm against his member. Without a word, he shucked his pants and boxers to around his ankles. "Sit," I ordered.

When he was settled, I lowered myself to my knees. He inhaled sharply upon initial contact of my mouth with his erection but, as I took him in fully, a low groan escaped his lips. I started off slowly, initially synchronizing the movement of my hand around his cock with the bobbing of my head. As I sped up, I surprised him with different motions, long, slow pulls with short, quick tugs. Midway through, I realized that he had buried his hands in my hair and was unconsciously playing with it. When his leg twitched and he roughly yanked a fistful of hair, I could tell he was approaching his limit. I started to finish him off. "Helga, wait," he commanded forcefully. I pulled back and looked up at him. He was flushed and breathing hard but wore a sly smile. "Switch."

As I rose, he scooted over to make room for me on the bed. I peeled off my thong before slinking across and laying beside him. No sooner had I done so than he commenced making a path of kisses down my curves. As he moved to my chest, he briefly lingered over a nipple before giving it a gentle bite. I whimpered as he took it into his mouth. He placed a hand over my other breast and began to palm it in rhythm with the undulations of his tongue. I tugged his luxurious golden locks as he continued to teasingly suck and nibble. I closed my eyes to revel in the feeling of his mouth on my body. His lips were unbelivably soft, which wonderfully contrasted with the roughness of his tongue. I sensed him stop and opened my eyes to see him smirk as he hovered over my pubic bone. When he was sure I was watching, he leaned down and gave my clit an experimental lick. I bucked as another wave of passion rippled through my core. His tongue plunged deeper, making brisk circular motions mixed with a random suck or flick here and there. I started slipping over an edge that I never knew existed.

"Oh…Oh God…Hold on." Arnold paused and gave a curious look. I twisted slightly and opened the nightstand drawer, searching blindly for the condoms Sam had thrown inside. When I finally got my hands on one, I tossed it to him. He picked up the little packet and glanced from it to me.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

He tore open the foil and unrolled the little rubber ring over his arousal as I got comfortable. When he had positioned himself over me and outside my entrance, he met my gaze. "Ready?" I nodded and he inserted himself inside. A burst of pain went through me as he stretched me open, causing me to hiss. He stopped, concern and alarm flashing across his face. "You OK?"

"Yeah. Fine. Just been a little while." I gave him a small smile. He returned the gesture before continuing on. At first, he took things slow and gentle, almost methodical even, as if he was afraid he'd break me. But that quickly subsided as we started to fall in synch. On one particularly deep thrust, a surge of the most intense pleasure I had ever felt swept through me. A guttural moan escaped my lips. His face instantly hardened in concentration and he thrust the same way again. Another jolt and another cry. With that, our actions became more frenzied. I ground down, desperate to take him in as far as I could.

"Almost…there…," he panted.

"Keep…going," I gasped. With each rapid thrust, my breathing became more sporadic and dots of color began to dance before my eyes. "I'm - I'm gonna -" With one final lunge, we both came completely undone. The pressure building up inside of me released like a firework. At the same time, he jerked violently, tensed, and then relaxed. I exhaled contentedly, fully basking in my moment of bliss and glanced up at him. I was met with that beautiful half-lidded gaze and a satisfied smile. He softly kissed my forehead before rolling off. He got up and took off the condom, tying a knot in the end and tossing it in a nearby trash can before rejoining me. As I lay there, letting my breathing return to normal, my thoughts once again became coherent. _What the fuck did you just do?!_ As the realization that Arnold and I had had sex sunk in,I defeatedly groaned.

He rotated to his side to face me. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Was it that bad?"

"What?! **No!**" I yelped, turning my head to make eye contact. A stupid grin crept onto his face. I immediately went crimson and whipped back around to focus on the ceiling. "I mean – What I mean to say is – is that this - this whole situation is insane."

"Tell me something I don't know."

I sighed. "Arnold, what are we doing?"

"Having a conversation."

"I'm serious."

He casually placed an arm around my waist, sliding me towards him. "Well, what do you think?"

"I don't know. I guess I kind of assumed we'd be chalking this up to a 'heat of the moment' thing."

He bristled. "That's no less of a cop-out now than it was then."

I rolled onto my side so I was directly face-to-face with him. "What do you mean by that?"

He seemed to be wrestling with his conscience for the right words. After a moment's hesitation, he spoke. "Helga, there's something I need to ask you."

"OK?"

"That night, on the roof of the FTi building, did you mean what you said? Did you really love me?"

_So he __does__ remember._ "Yes," I mumured almost inaudibly.

"Do you still love me?"

I looked away. "And if I said I do?"

"I'd say I love you too."

I whipped my eyes up and stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"Helga, that night, something happened when you kissed me. I had no idea what it was. Frankly, it overwhelmed me. I mean, one minute, you act like you hate my guts, the next, you're telling me you've secretly been in love with me for years. It was all too much for me to wrap my head around. So I came up with that whole 'heat of the moment' excuse, more or less to convince myself that what happened was a fluke. At the time, I was glad we both agreed on that explanation but, afterwards, when I thought about it, it bothered me. A lot. Probably because I knew you had told me the truth and I wasn't willing to accept it. Looking back, I should have said something then but I didn't know what or how without making things awkward between us. Anyway, before long, you were gone for what I thought was for good. I honestly didn't think I'd ever see you again. So I pushed everything to the back of my mind. That is, until, there you were, sitting in the middle of my living room. All those suppressed thoughts and feelings came flooding back the moment we made eye contact. I knew this was my chance to talk to you about it. But, the minute you recognized me, you were practically flying out the door. Not gonna lie, it hurt to think that you couldn't even stand to be alone in the same room with me but I wasn't about to give up that easily. Hence why I suggested wiping the slate clean. After that, I knew I needed to take things slow or you'd run. And, for a while, that's what I did. In the process, I got to see a side of you that I never even knew existed. And the more time we spent together, the more I liked you. As in 'liked you, liked you'. Then the Going Through party happened. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the alcohol talking. Maybe it was my own wishful thinking getting the better of me. Whatever it was, I could have sworn you still felt that same spark. So I went for it. I kinda figured you might freak out but never like you did. I felt absolutely terrible and immediately knew I needed to apologize. But I wanted to do it face-to-face so I could try to tell you what was going through my head. I at least owed you that. But then a week went by and you never responded to any of my messages. Then two, Then three. It was at that point I realized how badly I had messed things up. Sam kept telling me I should randomly show up one day and force you to talk to me but I couldn't. What was I going to say anyway? 'Hey Helga, I know I'm a giant moron and I'm sorry but the truth is, I think I'm falling for you and I need to know if there's even a remote chance that we could ever be anything more than friends.'?"

I smirked. "It'd have been a start."

"Well I know that now. Anyway, I wasn't even planning on coming to Formals but Sam convinced me that it would take my mind off the situation. Little did I know you'd be showing up with Brian. And seeing you two together made me twice as miserable as I already was. But you looked like you were having a good time and I didn't want to ruin that. I think it was at that point when everything clicked. It was more than just some little crush. I cared about you enough that I simply wanted you to be happy, even if it was at my own expense. So I knew what I had to do and that's why I approached you tonight. I figured all that would come out of this conversation would be that I'd apologize and say my peace. Then you'd tell me off, to stay away from you, and that'd be it. That'd be the last time we'd ever speak to each other." He let out a small chuckle. "And I guess I was partially right. Up until that last part. But I gotta say, I much prefer the way things turned out."

"Don't act so pleased with yourself there, bucko." I attempted to appear irritated but found myself snickering instead.

"So now what do you think?"

"I think that was the most clichéd speech I've ever heard."

His cheeks turned pink but he was grinning. "Yeah. It was kinda lame." He pulled me closer, holding me tight. "Honestly, though, is it worth a shot?"

"I've got some questions of my own that I want answers to first, Football Head."

"Go for it."

"Seriously, what really is the deal with you and Colleen?" He rolled his eyes. "Hey!" I exclaimed defensively, "You knew this was coming."

"I know. It's just -" He sighed. "She'll never forgive me if she finds out I said anything."

"As far as I'm concerned, nothing about tonight leaves this room." He eyed me apprehensively. "You can trust me, Arnold."

He thought about it for only a split second. "I tutor her in Calc 1 and Gen Chem 1."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Is that it?"

"Yep."

"What's the big deal then?"

"She doesn't want people knowing that this is her third time taking both classes. She aware she's got a reputation for being a ditz and she doesn't want add more fuel to the fire. So two or three times a week, we secretly meet for a few hours and I work with her through her labs and homework problems."

"OK. But that doesn't explain you two sneaking off to have private little conversations nor the fact that you were making out at the party."

"Like I said, she doesn't want people thinking she's stupider than they already do. So she pulls me aside when she wants to talk about meeting up or to let me know how her tests and quizzes went. And as for Going Through, I hadn't seen her all week and she wanted to tell me in person that she passed both her midterms. She was already three sheets to the wind when she found me so her better judgment was out the window. She wanted to thank me and that's the first thing that popped into her head. She knows I don't have those kind of feelings for her and vice versa. Of course, the next day, after she was coherent again, she was pretty embarrassed."

"So there truly is nothing going on between you two?"

"No."

I studied him closely. "And I should believe you why?"

"Helga, I've always been completely honest with you. Why would I start lying now?" He rested a hand under my chin and tilted it up towards him, eyes piercing down into the depths of my soul. "Trust me." And in that instant, I knew I could and that I forever would.

"All right."

"Now answer my question from earlier."

I didn't even hesitate. "OK."

"OK what?"

"OK, let's give this a shot. But let's get one thing straight. Helga G. Pataki wears the pants in this relationship, bucko, and don't you ever forget it."

"Whatever you say, Helga." I smiled and was returned with that slightly lop-sided grin I had always adored. "I love you."

"I love you too, Arnold." As I lay there, intertwined with my beloved, a random thought crossed my mind. I shook my head and chuckled. "You have no clue what you've just gotten yourself into, do you?"

"Can't wait to find out," Arnold whispered before he deeply kissed me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Happy New Year, folks! I present to you the final chapter. While I'm sad that I've finally reached the conclusion of a story I loved writing, I'm glad I was able to give it an ending now instead of producing one 3 months later after my busy season is over. I'm so grateful for all the positive reviews and follows this story has received and, as a result, I will be continuing on along the same story line in a new fic called 'Fault Lines'. This new story will take place during Arnold and Helga's senior year and cover some of the more difficult decisions they'll face as graduation and heading out into the 'real world' looms near. Again, thank you all for the feedback and enjoy the ending to "Begin Again"!**

**Note: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the music/movies/TV shows/etc. that I have referenced below and in the rest of this tale that I have spun. Song lyrics are "Sweet Child O'Mine" by GNR.**

* * *

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!**

I wearily lifted one eyelid as the bedside alarm blared its overly annoying tune. _Are you kidding me? It's Sunday. Why the hell is this thing even on? _I sighed heavily as I closed my eye and buried my face back into the pillow. I aimlessly shifted and draped an arm around the body next to me. Or, at least, where one was supposed to be. I opened my eyes once again to find I was alone. _Figures__._

I unceremoniously unwound myself from the cocoon of sheets and slapped the alarm off as I virtually rolled out of bed. I stretched and quickly scanned around for something to wrap my naked torso in. I found my wadded up panties half way across the room and, nearby, a white men's dress shirt. As I slipped back into my underwear and loosely buttoned the shirt, I also grabbed the running shorts sticking out of my gym bag. _Last thing anyone wants to see at breakfast is my bare ass._

After squeezing into my shorts, I slicked a brush through my mane once or twice before sneaking out the door. I silently padded through the hall and down the stairs, careful not to disturb the surrounding rooms. While making my way to the dining room, I detected the tantalizing smell of bacon and pancakes wafting through the air. At the same time, my ears picked up the faintest hint of a guitar being played. It took me a second to recognize the song, but when I did, I couldn't help but smile. _My favorite. _As I approached the doorway, I stopped just inside, leaning against the frame to take in the scene currently unfolding.

Standing at the stove in a pair of blue PJ pants and a white tank was the most compassionate man I had ever known. I watched as he casually flipped another pancake out of the skillet, softly singing along to the mp3 player hooked into the tabletop speakers.

_She's got eyes of the bluest skies_

_As if they thought of rain_

_I hate to look into those eyes_

_And see an ounce of pain_

_Her hair reminds me_

_Of a warm safe place_

_Where as a child I'd hide_

_And pray for the thunder_

_And the rain_

_To quietly pass me by_

_Sweet child o'mine_

_Sweet love of mine_

"I see you've stolen my iPod again."

Arnold glanced up from what he was doing and smirked. "And I see you've stolen my shirt."

"Not really stealing. More like permanently borrowing."

He chuckled and shut off the burner as I crossed the threshold into the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"I wish."

"Sorry. Forgot. Anything you want instead?"

I snaked my arms around his waist from behind. "Mmm...How about **'you'**?" He turned and pierced me with his emerald gaze.

"I think I can do that." He lightly gripped my hips as he pulled me into him, bending down to kiss me long and hard. That all-too-familiar tingle ricocheted throughout my body.

**THUMP!**

Our lips broke contact and we peered up at the ceiling.

I sighed. "Should have known that was coming."

He grinned. "I got it." He made a motion to leave but whirled back around, planting another peck on my lips before letting go. "We'll continue this later." I watched as the man of my dreams made his way across the room and climbed the stairs.

It's hard to believe that ten years have flown by so fast. It seemed like just yesterday Arnold and I were only teenagers, two kids who knew nothing but what they felt for each other. It never was and never will be an easy road for us. Like any other couple, we've had our share of endless arguments and the bitter, angry tears that follow. Yet, in the end, we always come back together.

That was never more evident than during our senior year of college. We spent most of that time getting into one fight after another, mainly about the status of our relationship. Nevertheless, following graduation, we made the commitment to spend the summer together backpacking through San Lorenzo.

It was trip of a lifetime. Everything about the area was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. However, the memories I carry of that trip aren't about what we saw but rather what we experienced. Hiking in the overwhelming heat of the dense jungle. Bathing in the chilly crystalline waterfalls. Visiting the locations where his parents had spent the most important years of their lives.

I can still distinctively recall the day Eduardo took us to the temple where Arnold was born. The temperature had to have been well into the 100s and it was muggy as hell. We'd spent that morning taking inventory of everything the research group needed for the following weeks as a caravan was scheduled to head into town the following morning. In exchange for our help, Eduardo had agreed to guide us along on a new route we hadn't yet explored during that afternoon. When I first laid eyes on the crumbling structure, I didn't have a clue of its significance. But Arnold did. Instantly, a mixture of sadness and sereneness had etched itself across his face and his hand had gripped mine a bit tighter. That was the moment of clarity he needed and, from there, everything seemed to finally fall into place. The next day, we traveled to the nearest city and filed for the license. Two weeks later, we wed on the same plateau where Arnold's parents had had their own ceremony.

The fact that we'd abruptly made the decision to get married didn't come as a shock to anyone. I think Sam's reaction pretty much summed everyone's thoughts on the matter. If I recall correctly, it went something like "Hot damn! I won the bet! Have you told Johanssen yet? He's gonna be pissed when he finds out he owes me 50 bucks. I told him you two wouldn't wait 'til you were back in the States!".

When we arrived back in the U.S., I immediately moved into the boarding house, much to Phil's satisfaction. I had spent enough summer weekends and holidays there that we had built up a close relationship. He would often tell me how much I reminded him of his Pookie and, in turn, I came to cherish and respect him as the fatherly figure I never truly had. So it hit both Arnold and I extremely hard when, a year later, Phil passed on. The weeks following were miserable, filled with a multitude of appointments and mounds of paperwork. But the one decision that mattered most to us was promptly settled in minutes. We mutually agreed to keep the Sunset Arms up and running. At the time, money wasn't even a factor we considered, however, the extra income the boarding house provided later turned out to be a huge help given that Arnold was the only one working while I completed my Masters. Times were tough then as we barely scraped by financially. Fortunately, though, my hard work paid off. Soon after finishing my degree, I was hired on as a behavioral counselor at a local troubled youth center. When I first started, I didn't think it was actually possible to honestly enjoy your career but I was quickly proven wrong. Even now, it's still incredibly rewarding helping kids that are in the situation I had once been with a neglectful family and an arsenal of anger issues. I guess it goes to show that, somewhere along the line, a piece of Arnold's essence really had become entwined with mine. And in more ways than one.

"Say 'Hi Mommy'."

"Mama!"

"Come here you." I placed one knee to the floor as Arnold picked the golden-haired angel up off his shoulders and set him delicately on the ground. Immediately, the tiny cherub ran into my arms, hugging me tight. Phillip Miles Shortman was the spitting image of his father, from the tips of his toes all the way up to the worn little blue hat perched on his head. I held him close, breathing in the light scent of baby powder on his skin. _How could I have ever been terrified of you, my beautiful boy?_

I had had a massive meltdown when I first found out I was unexpectedly pregnant. As far as I was concerned, dealing with someone else's offspring was one thing but a brood of my own was completely out of the question. I had convinced myself long ago that I was forever doomed to repeat the same mistakes my own parents had made and had vowed never to subject another human being to that, resulting in my swearing off children all together. The reality of what was then my worst nightmare coming to fruition left me in shambles. Arnold, on the other hand, having always wanted kids, took the news in stride. He not only successfully handled my hysterics but, as the months progressed, he managed to quell a majority of my fears. To this day, I still have no idea how he did it. What I do know, though, is that I don't think I've ever seen Arnold happier than the day Phillip was born. And truth was, the same could be said for myself. The minute I laid eyes on the little squirt, I was a goner, instantly infatuated with him. Within weeks of bringing Phillip home, we immediately began planning for the next one. And, right on cue, 18 months later, Baby #2 was now set to make his or her debut this upcoming fall.

"Cookie?"

I looked down into a tiny pair of wondrous jellybean green eyes. "Not yet. Let's get you some breakfast first, kiddo." I picked the tyke up and plunked him into his highchair.

As I prepped a sippy cup of milk and a bowl of Cheerios with sliced bananas, I lapsed back into my thoughts. _Is this really how you always pictured life, Helga, old girl?_ I dwelled on this question for a moment until the sound of laughter brought me back to Earth. I turned to gaze at the two people around which my world revolved. Arnold was sitting at the kitchen table, gently boop-ing Phillip on the nose, much to both of their delight. I beamed. _How did I get so lucky? _As I stood there, Arnold glanced over at me.

"You gonna join us or what?"

"Yeah yeah. Keep your shirt on, Football Head. I'm coming." I placed the bowl, cup, and a spoon onto the highchair tray.

"Foo-ball!" We stopped and stared at the giggling toddler before us.

"That's a new one."

"Guess he does take after you more than we thought."

I cringed. "If that's the case, I can't wait to see what happens when he turns three."

Arnold's mouth curled into a devious smile. "You never know. Maybe he'll find his own little girl in a pink bow to adore and yet mercilessly pick on by then."

At that, I softly slid into his lap, throwing my arms around his neck. In turn, Arnold wrapped me in his, one hand tenderly resting on my growing belly. "Can you possibly get any cheesier?"

"I can try."

I feigned a sigh of irritation. "Tell me why I put up with you again?"

His signature half-lidded gaze met mine. "Because you love me. And I love you."

My heart swelled just as it always did whenever he ushered those words. "Good answer, Football Head."

"Foo-ball!" We let the sound of our son clapping and shrieking in pure joy wash over us as our lips affectionately reconnected.

_Is this the life I always pictured for myself? Not quite. But I wouldn't have it any other way._


End file.
